Linear mechanical switches still actuate around mid travel (half way down), but there's neither tactile nor audible feedback to this effect. When you reach half way, the switch makes connection, but you hear nothing and you feel nothing. My first computer had Futaba linear switches, and for the three years I owned it, I had no idea that I didn't need to bottom out the switches. The idea that the switches made contact half way was lost on me, as linear switches offer no feedback.
You cannot yank out the switches. They're soldered onto a printed circuit board. Ripster is demonstrating how to open the top of the switch and remove most of the insides, but the base remains soldered in place. If you follow his instructions, you can (in a roundabout way) convert Alps complicated black to complicated blue, but you can't swap the insides of genuine Alps with the insides of Alps clones, as they're completely different on the inside. They're only the same dimensions on the outside, nothing more.
(Someone in the Far East has just designed a keyboard that allows for switches to be yanked out, but in general, no, it's a soldering job. Some keyboards lack the steel or (in rare cases) aluminium mounting plate that supports the switches, but they're always soldered in place.
I wouldn't worry about XM switches failing, though.
