I don't mind updates. Virtually every software, whether drivers/OS/games/utilities, anything, has updates. I think XP does a great job of making updating easy and timely. What I DON'T like are the built in features that XP comes with that I DON'T want, or want to change, that are virtually impossible to change without regedits and tweak utilities. Take MSN messenger for example. I don't want it, never use it, don't want it to run in the background. I have to go though extraordinary lengths to get this to stop loading on startup. I have pity on those poor souls who are less computer literate, especially with upcoming versions of windows, because, I can almost guarantee, that Microsoft is going to load on more and more of these built in features that tons of users don't want, and don't know how to keep from loading.