Ethin, I'm gonna be honest here. I'm approaching you as a user and not a mod, but I'm having serious trouble trying to wrap my head around your last post. Like, serious logic-doesn't-live-here-anymore trouble.

The main thing I take issue with is your contention that it is somehow spiteful not to upgrade to skype 8. I'd like to refer you to the definition of "spiteful" in any reasonable dictionary. Once you do this, I then challenge you to explain how using a provided service in any way matches this definition. Remember that spite is, by most definitions, wilful and harmful, implying some sort of vengeance, malice or ill will toward the target of said spiteful behaviour. This means that the onus is squarely upon you to prove that those of us who use older versions of Skype are doing so either to punish Microsoft or to hurt others. Good luck with that.

The next thing I'm going to hit is your contention that we are "daring" Microsoft to end support for skype 7. First of all, if this is actually what you want in the first place, what's your problem? According to you, both in this post and in at least one prior, the sooner they shut down all support for skype 7, the better. You have still yet to refute my claim that this desire of yours is spiteful, by the way; you're merely trying to turn it around on me, and on those of us doing the same as I am, and that's a whole new kettle of corn, but I'll rehash this shortly. Second of all, you presuppose that Microsoft is unaware of the issue, which is, in my opinion at least, kind of shortsighted. You either don't give them much credit, or else you somehow think that a relatively small splinter of the user base is actually going to be the driving force behind a change you're in favour of to begin with. My head is sort of exploding at this point, but let's keep going. Wouldn't it be more logical to assume that either 1. Microsoft is aware of the issue but as yet does not have a compelling reason to shut things down, or that 2. Microsoft may in fact be allowing this loophole to stay open precisely because they recognize the inherent issues with upgrading, the same way it was (and still in some ways is) possible to use really outdated versions of their OS? Let's talk about that OS comparison now, by the way. Using a really outdated version of Windows is going to make even harmless-looking web-surfing a comparatively dangerous endeavour. Using Skype 7, however, does not possess anywhere near the same concerns, and does not risk the security of anyone else either, so the risk of harm is essentially nil. I dunno, but if I were you, I'd consider more carefully such accusations, since it makes Microsoft look like they're being straight-up forced to pander to those of us who won't upgrade, or on the other hand, are being forced to shut us down in the name of progress. I'd personally rather believe they'd do this for sound business-related reasons, myself, but have on.

Right, so my last point. Let's come back to that aforementioned kettle of corn, which consists of me claiming that your behaviour seems spiteful, and you trying to turn it around on me.
This is patently bullshit. There's no other explanation, and I don't feel a need to sugar-coat it. I'm trying to stop well short of attacking you personally, but if you want a glowing example of why you get people's backs up, Ethin, this is it, right here. I don't know if you considered the impact of your words or not, but to me, it doesn't look that way. What I see is someone who is bound and determined to argue and who can't stand that other people have a perfectly admissible point of view that doesn't mesh with your own. The onus is not on me to give you a list of why Skype 7 is better than Skype 8. It might be if I was trying to convince you to use an older version, but I'm not. If you like skype 8, go nuts, dude. Use it all you like; more power to you, and all of that. You should also take note that at no point, not even a little, have I tried to get other people to regress from skype 8. Some people like it, or can tolerate it, and that is their personal choice. So yeah, the onus is not on me to make that list of why skype 7 is better. The onus is on you to convince me, or others doing likewise, that skype 8 is better, and you absolutely cannot do this. I know because you've already tried and failed. You cannot possibly account for all of the things we like about the version of skype we enjoy, and so you cannot possibly provide good enough reasons for us to abandon what we prefer. Even if you could, who do you think you are, anyway, trying to strong-arm anyone into changing what they prefer? I'm not sure what moral authority is informing your decisions, but it sure isn't doing you any favours. I think you really need to take a long, hard step back and ask yourself if this is the sort of thing you want to convey to the community at large, and to smaller groups of people with whom you are in conflict.

Let me summarize in non-flowery, straightforward English.
You don't get to decide what anyone else does, and suggesting that Microsoft should force upgrades as soon as possible is spiteful because, at present, Skype 7 does not represent any serious performance or security risks to others. Put another way: it's not your choice, so keep your nose out of it. It'll be discontinued whenever MS sees fit to do so, but until then, it'd be awfully nice not to receive any scorn or negativity for a choice we're making which hurts absolutely no one.