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Microsoft Defends Silent Windows Updates

Calls download practice efficient, not shifty

By Zach Samalin,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 14, 2007 4:59 PM CDT

(Newser) – Microsoft is reconsidering its updating practices after coming under fire for "silently"downloading a Windows patch—even for users who had opted for notifications. Microsoft defended itself, pointing out that the silent fixes affected the update software itself, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. Skeptical opponents maintain similar situations in the past came with alerts.

A Windows product manager conceded Microsoft "should have been clear in our explanation of this process earlier," but the practice has raised serious concerns over privacy: "Writing files to a user's PC without notice is behavior usually associated with hacker websites," said an article in newsletter Windows Secrets. "The question being raised is, 'Why is Microsoft operating in this way?'"

(FILES) Shelves are organized shortly before the official release...
(FILES) Shelves are organized shortly before the official release...   (Getty Images)
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates delivers his keynote address to the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in Los Angeles Tuesday, May 15, 2007. Gates announced that nearly 40 million Windows Vista Licenses have been sold 100 days after its release. (AP Photo/Microsoft Corp., Lee Celano)
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates delivers his keynote address to the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in Los Angeles Tuesday, May 15, 2007. Gates announced that nearly 40 million Windows...   (Associated Press)
(FILES) Shelves are organized shortly before the official release...
(FILES) Shelves are organized shortly before the official release...   (Getty Images)
(FILES) Shelves are organized shortly before the official release...
(FILES) Shelves are organized shortly before the official release...   (Getty Images)
Bill Gates, chairman of US Microsoft, a
Bill Gates, chairman of US Microsoft, a   (Getty Images)
(FILES) Shelves are organized shortly before the official release...
(FILES) Shelves are organized shortly before the official release...   (Getty Images)
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