corporations are the ones who will pay for .net. the public already has .net accounts when they signup for hotmail. ebay is using it for god sakes. and it's integrated into windows xp. as office and the new windows file system switch to .net you'll have less choice about whether you want to use .net or not. in the future if you want to edit a .doc, do a ppt presentation, or share microsoft xml you'll first be paying the digital taxman.
oh and staroffice is no longer free:
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-923039.html