While the majority of the information in this thread is of value, including very candid comments about the quality of the software and its documentation, which are all fair game, I've taken the liberty of editing out some parts that in our judgement don't bring enough value to the discussion of the technical topic itself. I've clearly marked the outtakes with the word "[edited]". Of course we prefer to edit others' posts as rarely as possible.
Whether any of it should be considered to be readded is an issue I would be open to discuss. If so, please feel free to contact me directly. Your freedom to voice your thoughts, and the integrity of the forums in general are very important to us. Feedback you want to provide to Esri and our distributors are listened to, considered, and in some way resolved.