And I'm sure you're just as forgiving whenever Microsoft has a security bug that gets exploited via 3rd party software (e.g. quicktime, flash, acrobat reader, etc.). or when there is no bug and it's purely a 3rd party vuln that allows access.

Skype has always made a big deal about this. The difference is the Skype division now has a larger and more experienced pool of lawyers to call upon. Do you even know what security through obscurity means? This has nothing to do with security. This is about protecting the brand by not letting people use the product in unsupported ways. Any app using this open source API to access Skype in an unsupported way can/may/will break whenever an update is released for Skype. That will cause those apps to break and reduce the perceived value of Skype in the long run. If they use the supported API that problem goes away. This isn't a complicated issue and it isn't a gigantic Microsoft/Skype/Microsoft+Skype/Anti-OpenSource issue. It's about the integrity of the product.

Just what the world needs. More paper-based junkmail. Google is starting to look like Obama

Really? Cite a source that confirms your claim that Microsoft stole i4i's code line for line. Go ahead.

I can top that. I worked at a place where I had to change my password every 30 days and I couldn't reuse a password for 2 *YEARS*. They also made it so you couldn't just increment a number in the password, it had to have several different characters.

I don't really see those as problems. What "older hardware" are you referring to? I have Vista running without problem on a machine that is about 5 years old. For desktops, that's well beyond end-of-life. UAC breaking badly written apps is a problem? Good. What app is it and why not go to one that isn't badly written? How is being 64-bit a downside? You can get a 32-bit version if you aren't on a 64-bit architecture and 64-bit Vista runs very nicely. No IE6... I can't say I go around trying to find legacy apps that need IE6, but you can still use ActiveX controls in IE7 and I haven't see a single page that doesn't work unless I'm using IE6. Are you referring to custom written software for a business/government customer?

I don't see Apple's inability to keep up with demand to be a problem. Few people even know that Google has a telephone. Google is one thing to 99% of the population. A search engine. Period.

With respect to telephones, Apple is Microsoft and Google is the sum total of all Linux distributions. Apple has a massive lead in cool factor, publicity, and market share. People will continue to develop for Apple simply because the odds of selling their apps are vastly superior considering the much larger iPhone market.

It is an interesting exercise, but completely impractical. The only place this would really be useful is at an opera or some other venue where they can track who purchased a specific ticket, and then only if you purchased with a credit card. If you paid cash at a box office, it wouldn't work. For movie theaters, this is completely worthless except to possibly uncover a pattern of where movie pirates sit while using a hidden camera. And even then, most movies these days are pirated from the production facility or off copies released to people for review.