The Register's review of XP Home with SP2 is
here.
Its conclusion:
SP2 does a lot 'under the hood' so to speak, to make Windows more resistant to exploitation, and this is to be commended. However, it does little to address the fundamentally insecure Windows setup, which pretty well trumps the former accomplishment. A simplified and hardened Windows system will be nicely enhanced by SP2. But the average Windows system will not even be touched by this effort: it remains leaky, almost incomprehensible to its owners, except those served by professional admins.
Windows remains too difficult for the average person to administer, and therefore profoundly unsafe on the internet.