Microsoft: We Never Promised You an SP2 Rose Garden

Microsoft has been reticent to commit publicly to how, when and if it would make the browser-specific security fixes that it delivered as part of Windows XP Service Pack 2 available to users of older versions of Windows.
But this week, Redmond software vendor issued a definitive statement regarding its back-porting intentions. The decision: No SP2 fixes — not even ones like the SP2 pop-up blocker or the ActiveX-control blocker — will be offered for users of older versions of Windows and Internet Explorer (IE).
Microsoft's message is if you want any of these features, you must upgrade to Windows XP and/or Windows XP Tablet Edition running SP2. Next year, Microsoft also will make the appropriate SP2 security fixes, including some of the IE ones, available to Windows Server 2003 users via Service Pack 1.