I think the ZDNet reference was just a whimsical commentary on the whole perspective of security, not anything specific about this question. Microsoft already made security enhancements in XP SP2 but for some reason, they've decided not to release them standalone for IE on other OS versions. Since XP is now targeted for some of the new Longhorn infrastructure enhancements, I suspect that may have something to do with it. Microsoft is a big ship and it doesn't move quickly--until it feels threatened--witness the way they came from nowhere to steamroller Netscape when they saw a potential threat from the Netscape browser. If FireFox becomes too big, I predict they will react. I don't want to get into a debate about the whole open vs. closed source issue. It quickly becomes religious, not unlike the Mac vs. Windows thing. Whatever works for the individual is best for them. I'm not sure being closed source means inherently less secure. Some of the most secure products available are probably very closed source. I think one of Microsoft's problems is that they wanted to make IE a part of their whole Windows/Office grand vision of scripting/ActiveX everywhere with everything being a seamless environment. That works fine for an intranet but when you expose it to the wild and wooly world of the internet, where external threats are rampant, you have a problem. I'm not sure what their answer is but as I said, if the competition begins to get too much market share I expect we'll see something before Longhorn. I'm sure Bill Gates doesn't like losing money, but I know he absolutely hates losing a competition.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken