Indeed. Really all most companies want is continued support (patches). This model is crying for a subscription arrangement and MS was tripping over themselves trying to figure out how to make Windows a subscription business. It seems like it should be possible...
Microsoft tried the subscription model and it failed miserably.
They eventually gave up and switched all the subscription licenses to perpetual one... A savvy colleague of mine immediately went to the store and bought all the subscription licenses on the shelf (they were considerably cheaper than a full license).
