The WGA function was pushed out via the Microsoft Update system and was labeled as a "Critical Update." Call me naive, but "Critical Update" says to me "necessary security update," not a feature Microsoft wants me to install so I know I'm "using a copy of Windows that is licensed and fully supported." This is, to me, abuse of trust.

3) Persistence of the update after rejection

Like many users, I employ Microsoft's automatic update functionality. But, unlike many users, I set mine to "notify before downloading and installing." The "notify" setting forces the system to tell me what it wants to download, rather than blithely swallowing anything Microsoft spoons out in blissful acceptance of their benign intentions.

Courtesy of the notification, I'm able to filter out unwanted things like the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal tool (I am quite happy with my existing antivirus setup, thank you!) and able to spot things like the WGA. On my laptop (which by the way runs an OEM Windows package) I've rejected the WGA update and selected the option "Don't notify me about this update again." The system ignores my selection and presents WGA again and again, hoping (I guess) that on one occasion I won't scroll down the list of updates and see that WGA is yet again included despite my do-not-notify instruction. Again, a breach of trust.

4) Inability to uninstall