BaseCamp 4.4.4, to my dismay, requires me to install Windows Media Player. I have another player installed and have up to now avoided WMP because of its reported intrusive behaviour, relatively large footprint and inability to play Blu-ray disks, not to mention the fact that my SSD is nearly full. Clicking on any media file opens my default player. Why cannot BaseCamp be written to behave in this way?
BaseCamp and MapInstall are calling home too.
I doubt BaseCamp needs Windows Media Player. It is probably a superfluous check performed by installer. If you unpack BaseCamp installer and execute BCMAIN.msi, then it will install without WMP request.