[dasil003]

I agree the mentality of "just break 'em" is wrong. But it's not so black and white. What you described is the extreme end of the spectrum that Microsoft is on. Clearly this is a pathological case where you commit to support abuse of your API. The alternative in this case would have been to tell Adobe not to do that earlier on. I understand why Microsoft operates that way, and I do believe it's an admirable goal, but you don't have to paint yourself into this corner. There are alternatives that are more subtle than screwing the customer. This gray area is what the thesis of your article skips over.

It's still a great story though.