Dear JMH,
I guess you are the person to answer two tiny doubts of mine!
1) Why did Microsoft allow it's customers a certain degree of free reign in allowing updates 1)unhindered installation,2) download, i will decide what to install and 3) i will decide whether to install or not( is option 3 there?)

2) On super Tuesdays, what % of users generally allow all downloads to be downloaded AND installed (You may give a rough restimate, lest we rust!)

3) Do you consider the under cover fixes are to avoid loss of face?
Regards,
Sreedhav:)

JMH said:

All of your questions pertaining to Microsoft's motives can only be addressed by Microsoft.

Dear JMH,
I am sincerely sorry for the ill-directed queries! I can only crave your pardon! I hold you in the highest regard!

Regards,
Sreedhav

See...as long as those fixes are tested sufficiently enough to make sure they wouldn't crash my computer or cause any kind of unwanted behavior, i don't mind them being pushed on me.
But if they ever affect me in an undesired way you can bet your boots, Microsoft gets a special entry in my HOSTS

-DG

I think not disclosing the extent of all patched vulnerabilities has some security benefits. If the hackers can just pull up lists of all the vulnerabilities you fixed, they would be able to create exploits for new vulnerabilities that much faster.

As consumers do we have the right to inquire as to what these fixes are?

Yes and No

Remember, you are renting the Windows OS, you do not own it.

And if so - how does that protect against hacking - for a hacker could ask the same. ---- Yes

If they can do this without warning/liability who knows what they can put on personal, public, and corporate machines/servers without permission.

There are limits and protections that they must adhere to.
They can't just drop a keylogger or something on your system.

And what happens if they damage the OS/machine(s)?

The end user is not necessarily SOL, if they ahve a legitimate copy of Windows, you can contact MS for help if an update does in fact break the OS. I do believe this does fall under the level of support they do provide under the Mainstream support period.


However, if they did do anything that would spy on or compromise a system, believe me, people are watching and it would spread like wildfire. MS would lose in the end.

There are alternatives, not excellent ones, but they do exist.
Mac and Linux would welcome the change.