I was somewhat confused by the fact that I didn’t see any references to the Windows Genuine Advantage update in my last batch of updates. So I went back to the very first screen and manually restarted the Windows Update process, which led me to this Web page in Internet Explorer. Apparently, waiting “in the cloud” for my system was another update to Windows Update itself. The headline reads “Software Upgrade for Some Windows Components Required” and goes on to describe the benefits of the upgrade. According to the three benefit bullet points, the upgrade will turn Windows Update into a one-stop update shop for both Windows and Microsoft Office (previously, the two update services were treated seperately), the upgrades will be faster, and navigation of the updates will be easier. The description makes absolutely no mention of Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage program. So, the assumption at this point is that we’re still not going to get the WGA update in this round of updates. If it was mentioned here, this would obviously be an opportunity to opt-out of the update (instead of clicking on the “Download and Install Now” button, I can simply close Internet Explorer and vacate the operation altogether. Little did I know, however, that WGA was indeed hiding in this update — something I learned when I proceeded by clicking the “Download and Install” button. That seemed a little sneaky to me, given the explanation offered in the above screen image.
Credit: David Berlind
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