Title

"Had we failed to update the service automatically, users would not have been able to successfully check for updates and, in turn, users would not have had updates installed automatically or received expected notifications. ... That result would not only fail to meet customer expectations but even worse, that result would lead users to believe that they were secure even though there was no installation and/or notification of upgrades. ... [Windows Update] does not automatically update itself when Automatic Updates is turned off."

Ermm, so all those who turned it off are now permanently cut off from WU, but they will never actually discover this because the older version of the software just isn't compatible with even the most basic "you are out of date" notification.

Sorry, I don't believe it. At least one of the quoted statements must be false.