rflig

Also there are 3rd party (paid and free) FDE tools available.

No matter how far in the future: If you find an 'old' TC volume/drive all you need to do is to install Win2k/XP/Vista/7, install TC 7.1a and decrypt. There's simply no need and practical use for a TC 7.2 with crippled functionality. Except one is forced by 'force majeure'. BTW: 7.1a is around on so many mirrors (and would be uploaded by enthusiasts if not) that it is ridiculous to post a crippled 7.2. Except one is forced by 'force majeure'.

Don't forget that M$ gives you the great 'service' to store your BL-key in your M$-account (on their servers) as soon as a) your machine is not connected to a domain and b) you're [...] enough (most are!) to log on with an M$-account to Win8.x.

Nothing kept them from having an XP (VM) offline just for compilation. It was best practice for security related products (actually for any development) to develop and compile offline anyway.

FDE was available from different vendors (I bought DriveCrypt PlusPack more than 15 yr ago and tried CompuSec (free) more than 10 yr ago, Comodo FDE is around since ~2k8). So availability of FDE software can hardly be the reason. Neither the credibility of M$, in matters of quality of code as well as especially being an US based company.