From: "Rich Gauszka" 

MS promised security updates for all supported versions of Windows. MS says
IE is part of Windows yet MS will only provide the IE security enhancements
for XP -  

http://news.com.com/Microsoft+to+secure+IE+for+XP+only/2100-1032_3-5378366.html
If you're one of about 200 million people using older versions of Windows
and you want the latest security enhancements to Internet Explorer, get
your credit card ready.

Microsoft this week reiterated that it would keep the new version of
Microsoft's IE Web browser available only as part of the recently released
Windows XP operating system, Service Pack 2. The upgrade to XP from any
previous Windows versions is $99 when ordered from Microsoft. Starting from
scratch, the OS costs $199.

Microsoft affirmed that its recent security improvements to IE would be
made available only to XP users.

"We do not have plans to deliver Windows XP SP2 enhancements for
Windows 2000 or other older versions of Windows," the company said in
a statement. "The most secure version of Windows today is Windows XP
with SP2. We recommend that customers upgrade to XP and SP2 as quickly as
possible."

IE has been a part of the operating system since its release," said
the Microsoft representative. "IE is a feature of Windows."

When asked about IE's origin as a free, standalone product, the
representative said, "You're talking in software terms that might be
considered ancient history."

Microsoft promised "ongoing security updates" for all supported
versions of Windows and IE.

Those ongoing security updates do not, as Microsoft points out, include the
latest security fixes with Service Pack 2, released last month. Those
include a new pop-up blocker and a new system of handling ActiveX controls
and downloaded content.

And it's those more substantial changes, rather than the bug fixes that
come with routine upgrades for supported products, that security
organizations have lauded for addressing IE's graver security concerns.

Now it's unclear whether even half the Windows world will have access to
the shored up IE.

"It's particularly bothersome if a product is in mainstream support,
because what does mainstream support mean then?" said Directions on
Microsoft's Cherry.

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