After having given everyone the heads up last week that a "MyGQ" of our own forums posted up a brief guide on how to remove the annoying WGA notifications plaguing many users in Windows XP, turns out Microsoft themselves are now happy to pass on a removal guide of their own! "What the hell?" I hear you say, News.com explains Microsoft's reasons to disclose such information.

Microsoft released a new version of Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications on Tuesday and detailed how to remove the controversial antipiracy software.

The updated WGA Notifications package includes changes that respond to criticism Microsoft has faced over the software, the company said. It no longer checks in with Microsoft after each restart, for example.

"Our customers have told us that they were disappointed with their WGA Notifications experience, and we have made an effort to improve that with this update," a Microsoft representative said in an e-mail interview.