"Too many changes in hardware? What constitutes "too many"?

This is a question with specific, simple answers. It turns out WMA is not nearly as much of a problem as many think and certainly not a mystery.

"Why must I be forced to call Microsoft if I upgrade my computer too many times?"

Your not. The only time you will have to call MS is if you are not going to be on the Internet with that machine for more than 14 days.

"Why must I be forced to call Microsoft if I buy a new computer with no OS loaded?"

Again, you aren't :) The only time you would have to call MS is if you freshly loaded the OS and did not have internet access on it.

I have loaded somewhere between 15 and 20 XP boxes now and not once had to pick up a phone.

"If I bought the freaking product, I BOUGHT IT."

This is software, you haven't bought anything. You have entered into a license agreement with the legal holder of the rights. That agreement lets you use that software under specific conditions. Don't confuse those things.

"Treating me like a potential thief because I upgraded a computer system is outrageously annoying."

Yet is it working wonderfully. Microsoft is having a fantastic conversion rate with XP. I do consulting work for several shops have made large purchases of XP licenses for me to install - and not upgrade licenses, full installs. The only possible reason is that the 20 machines they were running 2000 on before were not legally licensed.

Similarly, I have done several upgrades to home machines for friends and clients under similar circumstances. They want XP, they don't want a "cracked" version so they are willing to purchase a legal copy.

Before WMA this was simply not the case.

You are welcome to be annoyed, but in this case the license holder was right. They found a way that stops casual piracy without causing any significant problems for legal users.

"Right now I cannot demand my money back if I buy a piece of software that doesn't work"

Nope, you can't (of course, in some states you actually can...) but most good stores will in fact do just that for you if you are a good customer. I know I have no problems returning miserable software to CompUSA for example.

"This vehicle may not suit your purposes"

This is why trial software is so popular. So don't buy anything you haven't tried first.

"and the maker of this car is not liable for any damage that comes from using this car, even if faults with the car caused the damage"

As a software developer this clause is what makes it possible to stay in business. If I sold a 20$ text editor and one of the bugs wipes out a document some idiot lawyer values at 300 million dollars I had damn well better not be liable.

Heck, this is true in many other businesses as well. The company you get cell phone access from is not responsible if the cell is too static filled for you to close your million dollar business deal on either.

Nor should they be.