I agree, I think it's despicable for Microsoft to try to collect licensing fees so late in the game, for something that's became so widely used because it didn't need a license.

The only reason I'm using CompactFlash adapters is because I know I can plug the card in and be able to directly reach the camera's pictures as loose FAT files. It works only because Canon was using FAT without paying fees to Microsoft. If it weren't for that free "standard", the disk format would be proprietary and I wouldn't have wanted to buy the flash adapters.

This sounds very similar to the GIF debacle, which I think is also despicable.

I hate Microsoft.