I've had a lot of success with Toshy a per application keymapper which runs in the background and does all the heavy lifting automatically.
I think it would be similar to Office.
For example, there would be Windows with a subscription for the activation key. You would continue to get a period of free use (14 or 30 days maybe) before requiring an activation key.
Manufacturers would bundle new hardware purchases with 24 months of credit or something like that, so most people wouldn't notice a change at first.
However, Windows "Classic" would still exist and allow one-off purchases, but may have some limitations to updates or features over time.
First game was Safari Race on a Sega SC-3000. After that mainly played PC games when they were a thing and had a 1st gen Gameboy.
I gave up on games and tried to adult through my 20s... but after a bad breakup I bought an Xbox-360 and Skyrim and it's been a hobby ever since.
Filling Up on Cheese Before Dinner - YouTube