Mailing the story:

Microsoft's Vista operating system should give the company a revenue stream that will run for years, but experts at Wharton say the January 30 launch of the consumer versions of Microsoft's flagship software may be among the last of its kind—a product sold for a flat fee in a shrink-wrapped box. Indeed, many wonder if the software business model that has made Microsoft so dominant may begin to fade as new software business models—from open source to advertising supported—gain increasing traction.