#4 does... Namely legacy reasons.

I have a perfectly fine multipage scanner here that doesn't have drivers for Windows 7 and the manufacturer is out of business. You do know that Windows 7 implemented driver signing right? So even if you do find a legacy driver it probably won't start because it won't be signed. And don't give me this "Linux is your route" because no driver exists for it there either. So my choices are toss a perfectly working, expensive at the time and in demand scanner just to update from a working OS to one that doesn't or stick with what is working.... Hmmmm Hard choice that one.

Or the obvious solution to both your replies...

On demand bug fixes paid as needed. That satisfies it for both MS and the customer. But MS is unwilling to do even that.

Extending support for people who actually paid for the licenses once is one thing, although of course that has to end eventually,

Why? People paid good money for working supported product. Just because Microsoft wants to bait and switch doesn't make it right. I hope some deep pockets corporation sues the bejesus out of them to force this issue.

because a one-time payment can't support a development team in perpetuity.

Oh, so that's your reason to allow them to bait and switch. Look, they should have charged a proper amount to cover whoever does support. It isn't the customer's fault that Microsoft didn't price their product accordingly.

Be that as it may, one solution to the problem you gave is to force Microsoft to release the source code to legal licensees if they are unwilling to support the product they sold. That way at least someone can support it for working hardware. But oh, that would stop the bait and switch... Can't have that!

are stocks currency?

No but they are treated as such. Just ask every CEO who is paid with stock.

Market directly on websites relevant to your product. Selling viagra? You might consider the AARP site
        Market via Facebook and their "social advertising" platform. Analysts in the know are betting whether Facebook might conquer google.
        Banner ads on general interest sites people go to to waste time (I'm looking at you slashdot)

Inefficient because Google is already there. Just try and find a site that doesn't use Google adsense and google analytics. Good luck to you there.

And active competition is not something a monopoly has to do.

Yes it does to maintain its monopoly. Anyone entering the market is either bought out or kicked out by the monopoly.

Oh popycock! The market you refuse to acknowledge they are a monopoly in is... Wait for it... Marketing which this move is directed at. It attempts to limit the tracking to themselves being the only one who can track you albeit very poorly. Other marketers will have to find the loopholes in this strategy which gives Google the upper hand for a while.

If you opened a package with someone else's name on it, you have committed a federal offense.

In the US that is only true for the US Postal Service. Private delivery services like UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc do not have the same protections. This is because the USPS is a quasi-government agency and the only official way the government will send checks and other personal mail such as tax info.

always wondered if there is anyone who actually clicks on advertisement links, I mean, yeah I can see the type of people who would click on a lotto 999,999,999th visitor ad, but does ANYONE really buy things after clicking on them?

In the 25+ years I have been on the Internet I have never, ever clicked an ad. In this day and age of malware it is very dangerous to do so. In fact, the more I see an ad for a particular product, the more likely I am to use a competitor's product that hasn't bombarded me with advertising.if I really want it just to be spiteful.

I do the same with political ads. I vote for the one I heard the least from. One sure way to get me to vote against you is for you to send me an unsolicited ad for your campaign. That is my way of saying the millions you are spending on advertising is working against you.

I have a Nokia C3-00 phone that I got from Walmart. It is a pre-paid phone I got because... Well... I need a phone not a damned computer. It works very well as a phone with a far longer battery life than any of the so called smart phones out there. A single charge lasts me a week on this thing. Can you say the same about an iphone or galaxy?

Almost 100% of all coal is shipped to electricity providers. Reliability and Economies of Scale.

Absolutely false. Most of the coal here in West Virginia actually goes for metallurgical (steel production) uses. The 1/3 to 1/4 that is used for power production comes from the southern coal fields.

If obesity was really a "chronic but treatable disease," where has it been the last 200,000 years? Why has it only existed on a large scale for the last 20 - 30 years? Changes in physiology don't move that fast, but changes in culture, attitude, economics, etc certainly do.

Most of the reason things in culture get classified as a disease is so insurance will pay for the treatment. That aside, the biggest changes in the last 50 years has been the advent of chemistry in food production. Processed food has more chemicals added for flavor, color and shelf life than ever before. The further you get away from natural the more unhealthy it is for you. The problem is those same processed foods also happen to be the cheapest.

"Have the Indians fill it in and charge a buck a head to cross... It's a sound business solution!" -- George Carlin

As I pointed out above, a restaurant surveillance system is trained on the cash registers to record transactions (or thefts) from them. They don't follow you around the damned place like someone wearing Google Glass can.

Also, the surveillance video cameras are fixed usually on a front counter to record the cash registers and those dealing with it. They aren't following you around the whole damned diner.

Also, please remember that not everyone who uses a computer is an "IT pro". This should not be necessary to avoid shit like this crap.

And there is the problem. People pay hundreds or thousands for a computer and still want to treat it as an appliance like their toaster. Why should I give a shit about their safety if they don't give a shit about it? The real question is when are people going to take responsibility for their own actions? Install crapware and get infested with shit like this. It is that simple. It all comes down to greed. Greed on the part of the producers of shit like this and greed on the part of the user trying to get a free lunch when no such thing exists.