Microsoft to Build Boxbuster Software Rental Shops

Hoping to avoid money-back guarantees by never actually selling their software, Microsoft Corp. plans on renting their products to PC owners through a retail chain called Boxbuster.

Rob N. Plunder, head of the Redmond giant's catch-up technology division, said people are comfortable with renting videotapes, appliances, and cars, so these are areas Microsoft also wants to shoulder its way into.

"We'll have stores where customers can browse and select from our product titles -- like Windows, Word, and Office -- check them out, use them for a while and crash them, and then return them," Plunder said.

But programming consultant Everyn Paine predicted this method will only foul things up on systems that are already shakey.

"You know how much garbage is left behind when removing one of their applications," said Paine. "Imagine the accumulated dross from repeated installations and removals of their rentals."

Plunder countered these claims by saying Microsoft has spent a great deal of money and time on delivering products that are stable and secure.

"We're not admitting our products are stable and secure, just that we've spent a lot of money on them, because we worry about what our stockholders -- er, customers, demand."

Boxbuster customers will be able to rent software for 3 days. They must then remove the product from their computers and return the CDs to the store, and delete any data files created by the software.

"It's only fair," said Plunder. "You can't keep 'enjoying' the output of a movie after you've returned the tape, so why should we let you use the output of a rental program after you've returned it, too?"

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