Stockholm Syndrome.
"...something just irks the hell out of me that they think that this is a cool thing to do."
Yeah, restricted freedom and anti-democratic business practices irks a whole lot of us. :)
Microsoft's just been trying to be Apple ever since the Zune.
Long story short: you can still decide when you want to update Windows - 10 steps instead of one.
Detailed Steps:
Open Computer Management
After disabling the Windows Update service in the Computer Management Console, click on the Recovery Tab. There, turn first three options to "Take No Action." Else, the service will reactivate itself after a while.
This way, you control when you want to update.
Note: If you use Defender, manually turn on the Update Service when you want to update the definitions.
That seems risky security-wise.
I'll just stick to my Linux machines, which update without bringing me down for half an hour.
No, some of us bitch and moan about Apple whenever it's on topic and this is also a logical fallacy of sorts ... if Apple does it, that doesn't make Microsoft's actions OK.
No, some of us take the down votes and voice our opinion. :)