Yes I do understand that. But since I use windows only for playing games I can pretty much lock it up, updates included.
If you use it only for games, what are you afraid of then? You guys are sometimes so paranoid.
Those who chose to remain in ignorant bliss are free to do so.
They are just taking a clue from Google and Apple in how they can do the same things with the smart phones. Or did you not know every text message anyone sends is recorded, and that they gather GPS data from the phone? They also push apps to the phone without you knowing about it. They can do anything they want with those phones.
You can do what I do. Manually download the updates from another computer. Copy them to DVD/CD, then install them on your computer. At the same time I update my build with the new patches.
It really scares me that MS is now able to take control over your computer. If MS can do this and has it setup to do so who else can get that authority and for what purpose?
I've got an older system by today's standards that still runs the game well by my standards.
Update: VR-Zone reports (and we can confirm) that the download link for the hotfix is no longer functional. There were apparently unexpected performance drops in some cases after applying the hotfix and Microsoft is investigating the issues. Modifying the scheduler in Windows is not something to be done lightly, as it changes a core element of the OS, so more testing and validation for such updates is always a good idea.Update 2: Apparently there is a second part to the hotfix that was not pushed live, and this hotfix was pushed live prematurely.