Thanks brn2prgrm for sending me this.. He noticed that what appears to be bolded (through update) is Microsofts next line of defense against pirated versions of Windows. As we stated earlier, all valid Windows versions are to be moved over to Windows Update V4 (the same GUI as XP users see) could the reason be to do with new authentication methods through online updating?
The following information can be found as Windows Update, and then click on About Windows Update in the left side bar, and then scroll down to Windows Update Privacy Statement. The points that I stress, and believed have been updated since recently are in bold:
Windows Update Privacy Statement
Windows Update is committed to protecting your privacy. To provide you with the appropriate list of updates, Windows Update must collect a certain amount of configuration information from your computer. This information includes:
- Operating-system version number and Product Identification number
- Internet Explorer version number
- Version numbers of other software
- Plug and Play ID numbers of hardware devices
To provide you with the best possible service, Windows Update also tracks and records how many unique machines visit its site and whether the download and installation of specific updates succeeded or failed. In order to do this, Windows generates a Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) that is stored on your computer to uniquely identify it. Windows Update records the GUID of the computer that attempted the download, the ID of the item that you attempted to download and install, and information about your operating system version and Internet Explorer version.
Because Windows Update does not collect personally identifiable information, the configuration information and GUID cannot be used to identify you.