and the truth is.....
Whilst I am no great fan of Microsoft - OSX rules for me - I have seen too many cases of "security alerts" threatening us with a plague of locusts, or the death of every first-born in the nation, or at least a visit from the four horsemen of the apocalypse.
I am, therefore, minded to accept Microsoft's "downplaying" of this as being a more realistic assessment.
With all of the adverse publicity associated with ANY security threat - extant or hypothetical - I cannot see MS indulging in such a blatant porkie which would obviously be found out very quickly.
Not even Mr Ballmer.
Speaking of whom, is it just me who wonders whether he is the long-lost (or disowned) brother of Uncle Fester from the Adams Family? The resemblance is too great to be co-incidental.