I would say that the company has bigger problems if they are refreshing hardware without making sure it is compatible first with their LOB applications - or paying for new hardware and not any software. That being said, there are many solutions to this such as virtualising (app-V/similar), remote desktop and more. I don't see the problem at all.

Only on ARM! .... How many desktops/laptops are you going to replace with ARM based machines? Do you complain that you can't run full OSX apps on an Ipad/Iphone? ... This is a NEW edition of Windows - Metro will be cross compatible. The moment that ARM becomes bigger, I am sure we will see more compatibility, .NET apps will most likely receive a update that makes them run (when not using pinvoke), and give it time, we will probably see x86 emulators.

Lets block out the sun before it's too late! Rise of the machines!

I can't speak for America, but, in England, it is possible to get standard non prescription ones for around £20-£40 that are very good. The basic ones work, and they do work well. The only real difference with the more expensive ones are that they are medically certified. They are nearly always the same specification. That being said, the medical ones usually always are personalised / they take a cast of your ear and are a lot more comfortable. However - even with castings and all, I don't think it is worth the cost! (I do not wear one, I have a friend who does and I had this chat a while ago when I couldn't believe the price!)

I am sorry to say it, but I just can not see how Microsoft can be called a monopoly, I am currently a open source user and am posting this comment from Mozilla Firefox running on Ubuntu. At the end of the day, there is choice there and if people want to, they can change their operating system and live without any commercial software, I have been doing this for the past few months and am generally having a good time. Now, if I want a .com name, I am FORCED to pay the extra, no questions asked. There is clearly a monopoly here, but no one seems to care or do anything. Fine you can get other domain names, however I am sure that at least 80% (if not 99%) of people would classify the internet as ".com".