IE7 and Windows Update

there are no real mandatory installations from Windows Update, there are high priority updates and optional updates. Neither are mandatory.

 If you use Windows Update in 'Custom' mode you can select which downloads to install based on your needs. If you use 'Express' mode or an automatic background download and install of updates (using the automatic Updates control panel), all high priority updates will be installed. 

IE 7 is not mandatory. Heck, upgrading from Windows 2000 is not mandatory. But, it is good advice to take the updates. While Microsoft calls them updates, we know them as work arounds for major security flaws. But be careful. Office Add-in and Windows Live Search will screw up your computer (or merely be an inconvience - your choice of words). click on the plus sign and click on "do not show this ever again" damnit (you may not see the word damnit, but we know it is there)

This IE 7 updates will not be mandatory. But in the ongoing browser war Microsoft has made some specific amendment in itself .

IE 7 includes tabbed browsing, built in RSS feeds, as well as tools to help users spot phishing Web sites that mimic banks and trusted e-commerce companies to steal personal and financial data. The new IE also shores up some weaknesses in ActiveX, a feature designed to help Web sites load interactive content