Thank you John. Very well put.  To add a bit of fuel to the flame, (and since this thread of OT anyhow...) I'd much rather have M$ spy on me than my government... and I'd still further prefer to have my government spy on me than the identity thieves who could very well (but most likely are not) reading this email while it's on its way to the list server. M$ can abuse its findings by marketing to me, and annoying me endlessly with offers that I'm not the slightest bit interested in (but they don't do that.) The Government can arrest me based on a misinterpretation of something they warrantlessly listen to me say on the phone to a friend in jest (but most likely they won't.) Identity thieves ruthlessly and illegally seek out information about me. This is by far the most likely scenario of the three offered here. Paul Bruesch Piano beginner Rookie Piano Technician Former Computer Engineer who worked mightily on Y2K issues and is glad not to be in THAT business any longer <div>On 3/5/07, John Dutton <<a href="mailto:duttonjw@gmail.com">duttonjw@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> With all due respect, if M$ wants to spy on your machine anytime you go online they can access it. After all, they wrote the code for the operating system.  The same would be true of Apple. By not utilizing the Automatic Update feature, *the average user is not getting the critical updates they need to keep their machine running safely because they can't remember to do this themselves*.  One of my many hats is as a network engineer/tech support and I see this all the time-out of date antivirus software and lack of anything resembling a critical update.  If it does not automatically update itself then the machine is at risk.  To order a CD for every set of critical updates would be not very efficient.  And in point of fact, every time you browse the web you are likely giving up more personal data than M$ is collecting.  [Of course, every time you use a debit or credit card you give up data about yourself.  Every time you make a phone call you give up data about yourself.  Every time you give someone your SSN....well you get the picture.]  I have in the past managed many a machine with semi-legal copies of Windows operating systems-not XP or Vista to be sure-and M$ never shut them down through the Automatic Update process. To recap, computers are far more vulnerable if they do not have up-to-date antivirus software and up-to-date "Critical Updates" (leave the optional ones alone if you will) than they are without.  I personally prefer to have anti-spyware as well.  M$ is not going to suck out the insides of your machine during the process.  You give up tons of data you don't even know about when you browse the web or shop at the local grocery store.  Paranoia in this instance won't help keep you or your machine safe. John Dutton Principal Horn Piano Technician Computer Network Engineer -----Original Message----- From: Hechler Family [mailto:<a href="mailto:dahechler@charter.net">dahechler@charter.net</a>] Sent: Sunday, 04 March, 2007 19:55 To: Pianotech List Subject: Re: DST instructions for PC and PDA John, et all, Just a friendly reminder - anytime you do online updates, you are opening your whole desktop/laptop so Microsoft can spy on you - meaning what you have installed, legally or illegally, all your data files, public and/or private. Make a full backup or order the update via CD. MS worry-wort </blockquote></div>