Article: Does EULA Give Microsoft License to Update Systems?; Microsoft's end-user agreement distinguishes between downloading and installing updates.

In a nutshell, Automatic Updates is automatically updating even on Windows XP systems that are set to "no automatic updates."

In mid-September, my colleague Joe Wilcox, editor of Microsoft Watch, reported on suspicions that Microsoft was updating users' systems without their consent--even when users had explicitly indicated that they didn't want updates automatically installed. One of my eWeek Labs partners, Senior Analyst Andrew Garcia, confirmed the behind-the-scenes behavior on Windows XP (See Page 42).

The next step, we decided, was to take a look at the Windows XP EULA (End User License Agreement) to determine if users had given Microsoft tacit permission to update their computers ...

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