Maybe that's why Win8 is delivered as a download  
You can get it either way.
Microsoft has been rumbling about a next version of the operating system being available as a rent-only piece of software.  You have to pay monthly in order to boot your computer for that month.  Sounds like a solid deal to me. hehe.
They have been avoiding answering questions about it, so at this point it is unconfirmed rumor.  They were probably testing the reacion to such a plan when they leaked that tidbit a few months ago.  Might explain why they are not talking about it anymore.