I actually thought about this in the context of magazine subscriptions last year. I wondered whether anyone would open things up so you could subscribe in either of two ways:
1) The "digital" way - you've got access to every issue of the magazine, from the very beginning of their publication - but only for the duration of your subscription. If you quit, you're locked out.
2) The "print" way - you've got access only to those issues that were published during your subscription. If you cut off your subscription, you don't get any new issues but you can still log in with your account and see those issues that you were "subscribed" to.
(Granted, it adds complexity to people who are likely just thinking "I just want to read this month's [X] magazine, why are you making it so hard?".)
It sounds like Microsoft is doing a decent best-of-both-worlds option here - if you play it and like it, you get a discount to purchase it.
1) The "digital" way - you've got access to every issue of the magazine, from the very beginning of their publication - but only for the duration of your subscription. If you quit, you're locked out.
2) The "print" way - you've got access only to those issues that were published during your subscription. If you cut off your subscription, you don't get any new issues but you can still log in with your account and see those issues that you were "subscribed" to.
(Granted, it adds complexity to people who are likely just thinking "I just want to read this month's [X] magazine, why are you making it so hard?".)
It sounds like Microsoft is doing a decent best-of-both-worlds option here - if you play it and like it, you get a discount to purchase it.