David DeJean speculates that Microsoft is going to use Automatic Updates to increase IE’s market share. Maybe, maybe not. A couple of scattershot comments:
- It’s not a rumor, it’s an announced plan. I published the details back in July.
- Everyone who will get IE7 already has IE6 installed, and the update doesn’t change default browser settings. So if you’re currently using Firefox or Opera, the IE7 download won’t change a thing. It’s hard for me to imagine anyone switching at this point.
- Microsoft has to get Automatic Updates working again before they can even think of using it as a delivery vehicle.
If you use Windows, this really is an important update.
Ed Bott 
Well, as of about an hour ago, Windows Update seemed to be working again.
People who use Firefox will continue to use it – so I feel its highly unlikely that they will be able to improve the market share. Ofcourse, people might try it out – but people who switch to Firefox usually don’t return back.