Walt Mossberg takes a look at SP2, the Windows free upgrade —
I’ve been testing SP2 on two Windows computers, and it seems to work fine. I recommend installing it, if only because of the under-the-hood security improvements Microsoft claims it contains.
But SP2 falls way short of what Microsoft could have done to fix the miserable state of security in Windows. While the update will make it harder for malicious software to enter your PC, SP2 doesn’t detect or remove viruses or spyware or spam.
What’s more, some of the key features of SP2 are inferior to those in third-party security software. In fact, even after you install SP2, you will still have to use add-on security programs, if you want to be reasonably safe.
He concludes: “Overall, SP2 is worth installing and will definitely improve Windows security. But it’s limited. You’ll still need to look beyond Microsoft to really secure your Windows PC.”