What exactly does KB2952664 do?

Upgrading ones PC from Windows 7 to Windows 8.x is optional. I think we can agree on that.

I see nothing wrong or unusual in Microsoft coming out with an update (KB2952664) that makes it easier for a user to choose the option to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8.x.

What does seem strange to me is that apart from the optional choice to upgrade from Windows 7 to 8.x (which a given user might never do, or might not do for months or years), Microsoft decides to designate KB2952664 as "important" .... thus resulting in this update getting installed by all users who have set their Windows Update to "automatic", and by many others who manually install all "important" updates.

Microsoft could just as easily make KB2952664 a prerequisite that would not need to be installed now, but rather have to be installed at the point in time one chooses to upgrade their PC from Windows 7 to Windows 8.x. If the only thing that KB2952664 does is make the upgrade easier, then why would Microsoft go to the trouble of marking it "important" to get it installed way before users even choose to upgrade from Windows 7 to 8.x?

So, in the absence of any detailed information from Microsoft about what KB2952664 actually does (I agree with you ... such information is not likely to be forthcoming from Microsoft), what we are left with is Microsoft saying that the update (KB2952664 ) is "important" and should be installed now, even though the sole purpose of that update is to make easier an event (upgrading to Windows 8.x) that might never happen on ones PC, or might not happen for months or years.

Doesn't that seem somewhat strange to you?

Of course, Microsoft could issue an official statement explaining exactly what KB2952664 does, or they could change its designation in Windows Update to "optional", or they could state officially that there are no consequences if the user postpones KB2952664 until such time that they make a decision to upgrade to Windows 8.x. All of these would be the customer friendly thing to do. The likelihood of Microsoft doing any of the above: zero.

Since it is not likely that Microsoft will shed any light on this issue, a paranoid person might just think that the update could do something to Windows 7 to make the user think they "need" to upgrade to Windows 8.

I do agree with you:  Microsoft does not hide things any more (or less) than other IT companies ... but that does not make me feel any better about the strangeness of this update. Just because they all hide things does not make it right.

I guess I'll just quit whining about it and just hide the update.

I have about half of those hidden and will check the rest.  I also have KB3080149 hidden to stop sending telemetry.  With all this stuff going on, they don't get approval for that.

I used to generally glance at the brief descriptions and take almost everything.  Now I don't even apply changes on a timely basis because I first have to evaluate all of them to see which ones I can trust.

So far I have not had any offers to "upgrade" to WIN10.  My plan is to never do that to an existing PC although I suspect I'll have it on my new one.

The biggest reason?  NO CONTROL OVER UPDATES.  They have been proven now to not be trustworthy for that, so in their push to get Win10 everywhere they have discouraged at least me from getting it!

And I have hidden it for the umpteenth time, along with KB3035583, and one released in December that "enables support for additional upgrade scenarios from Windows 7 to Windows 10," KB3112343. I still can't imagine any scenario where going from Windows 7 to Windows 10 is an upgrade.

With that addition, here again is a list of updates identified as nagware/spyware that I posted a few pages back:

KB2505438

KB2670838 – Windows 7 Only (breaks AERO functionality and gives you blurry fonts on some websites)

KB2952664

KB2976978 – Windows 8 only

KB3021917

KB3035583

KB3075249

KB3112343

(After removing any of the above that were installed on family members' laptops (W7 and W8), an immediate improvement in performance was noted.)

Note that KB2952664 re-surfaced last Tuesday with the patch-Tuesday patches.  I installed it for the 20th time.  I have not researched what is new in this revised patch.  I assume that it is more nagware to install Windows 10.

From what I am reading, they need to get their numbers up to get more apps written for it, so they are trying to sneak it in... including popups that ONLY give you an install option, not a cancel option.

My biggest reason for not upgrading?  Because with Win10 you may not have the option to ignore individual upgrades?  So what, you can trust them?  Well this very thread has reinforced that belief on my part.

I used to take upgrades shortly after they popped up, and took almost all. NOW I don't consider installing until I have time to read all the ones, and if they don't give a good explanation of what they do, I generally google them, and if I can't find it, or am not satisfied with what I find, I hide it.

So far I have not had even a suggestion to upgrade to Win10, so I guess I've been successful.