"It's been said around the 'net that digital cameras aren't designed to be used/run for long periods of time and using them as a webcam will kill them" (from the article in the link you provided).
This is due to the image sensor being powered all the time, sensors in digital cameras aren't made to be constantly powered, and will generate heat, which is probably the main way the lifespan is reduced. This is a known and talked about potential issue in the newest SLR's from Canon (40d) and Nikon (d300) which have the "live view" feature.
Although... the sensors are smaller in the non-SLR cameras, so maybe they won't generate as much heat.
And in your application (VM95), it also depends on whether the software requires the sensor to be powered up 100% of the time, or if it can take a snapshot exposure at intervals.
But for $50 bucks... you can let us know how long the camera lasts...
Did you try to run VM95 in XP compatibility mode with Administrator privilege?