What exactly does KB2952664 do?

This behavior is precisely like Malware.  Malware removal programs would have a hey day if they removed this malware.

Hence and thus and therefore, GWX Control Panel is a malware removal program.  And a good one.

This behavior is precisely like Malware.  Malware removal programs would have a hey day if they removed this malware.

Microsoft's use of the X at top right corner of the Windows 10 installation dialog box (i.e., allowing the X to have the same effect as an OK button would) ... is not only deceptive, but also contrary to their own published documentation on guidelines for creating dialog boxes.

The guidelines can be seen on this page, and they state this ...

"The Close button on the title bar should have the same effect as the Cancel or Close button within the dialog box. Never give it the same effect as OK."

The same guidelines also state this ...

"Use Cancel or Close for negative commit buttons instead of specific responses to the main instruction."

Microsoft appears to be desperate about getting Windows 10 installed, and is willing to violate even their own guidelines ... this goes way beyond just plain deception.

Well, yeah, except that page refers to the use of Dialog Boxes, and the first question developers are advised to ask to determine if it is the right user interface is:

• Is the purpose to provide users with information, ask users a question, or allow users to select options to perform a command or task? If not, use another user interface (UI).

Since the purpose of the Windows 10 installation box is clearly not to provide information, ask a question, or allow users to select any options that might result in them not getting Windows 10, it is obviously not a dialog box at all, but some other user interface that just happens to look a lot like a dialog box, and those guidelines do not apply.

This should be obvious to anybody smart enough to own a computer by that fact that the X doesn't behave the way it would if it were a dialogue box.

When you have marketed operating systems and software for over two decades in which clicking on an X at the top right corner always closes a window, program, application, or whatever else it appears in, with no further action taken by the process (without some sort of warning), and then, suddenly and uniquely, clicking on an X at the top right corner of a window causes the installation of a new operating system to begin (without any warning), this is deceptive marketing.

Microsoft's use of the X at top right corner of the Windows 10 installation dialog box (i.e., allowing the X to have the same effect as an OK button would) ... is not only deceptive, but also contrary to their own published documentation on guidelines for creating dialog boxes.

The guidelines can be seen on this page, and they state this ...

"The Close button on the title bar should have the same effect as the Cancel or Close button within the dialog box. Never give it the same effect as OK."

The same guidelines also state this ...

"Use Cancel or Close for negative commit buttons instead of specific responses to the main instruction."

Microsoft appears to be desperate about getting Windows 10 installed, and is willing to violate even their own guidelines ... this goes way beyond just plain deception.

This is not lying; this is not deceptive marketing; this is very effective social engineering.

I will grant that technically, it is not lying, but it is playing a bit loose with the definition of "explicit" - it will be interesting to see if Microsoft's holds up in court.

When you have marketed operating systems and software for over two decades in which clicking on an X at the top right corner always closes a window, program, application, or whatever else it appears in, with no further action taken by the process (without some sort of warning), and then, suddenly and uniquely, clicking on an X at the top right corner of a window causes the installation of a new operating system to begin (without any warning), this is deceptive marketing.

It certainly is very effective social engineering to tell your customer base "trust us" for decades, get the overwhelming majority to do just that so you can take advantage of their unsuspecting nature, then have external apologists make excuses for you as they profit from your customer's vulnerability.

If I were a social engineer conducting a mass experiment, I might be proud of such results. If I were a software company, I would be proud to be able to say that people are using my product because they think it's really good, not because they weren't bright enough not to get tricked into it.