Lots of interesting information. However, I think you over-reacted about Fortran. After reading the parent comment and your comment it seems both of you are saying the same thing: Fortran has the advantage of having no pointer aliasing.
Regarding unification based algorithms, do microsoft use any of it in their F# compiler. I ask because they have time to time tried to say we wont sue you for F# technology. Dont know how much of those sweet nothings are binding. Given your knowledge about compilers and legal systems I am very curious to hear your opinion.
I don't know off hand if they use it. I know they do in static analysis tools.
As nice as MS is, they seem to consider compilers solely a cost center. Their compilers produce "relatively good code", but have never really been state of the art.
Regarding unification based algorithms, do microsoft use any of it in their F# compiler. I ask because they have time to time tried to say we wont sue you for F# technology. Dont know how much of those sweet nothings are binding. Given your knowledge about compilers and legal systems I am very curious to hear your opinion.