> We were perpetually a bit afraid that Microsoft/Intel would pull something like Palladium/Trustworthy Computing [1] and lock down PC hardware but good, finally killing the Rebel Alliance of Linux/BSD, but somehow the hammer never quite fell. It did in the cell phone world, though, albeit in an inconsistent fashion.

I agree that phones are more locked down than desktops/laptops nowadays, but it's worth pointing out that neither Microsoft or Intel are really winners in this area. They both still are doing fairly well in the desktop/laptop in terms of market share though.