I'm a bit confused. This exploit has been patched already. R U saying that this patch is not effective or only people that don't update can get infected? If the latter is the case then blaming Windows holes for infections is not really fair.
Being on a P3 laptop, Windows XP already take up a majority of my computers resources. Enabling auto-updates/windows firewall often brings me to a halt.
Being on the internet roughly 10hrs/day and having absolutely no protection I'm lucky (or rather unlucky) to see a virus once a year. Just be careful what you download, in my opinion that alone reduces your risk more than 90%.
Long as you surf the internet you will run across an attempt to get infected by some worm or Trojan no matter how careful you are. Common sense will tell you need some kind of a virus scanner just to be on the safe side. I use Avast! home edition and it works well for me. AVG works too.
I do agree Norton 360 sucks balls and should be avoided.
Most users blame microsoft when they download viruses right before their own eyes. Seriously people, dont blame microsoft, blame yourselves. Windows has billions of lines of code and Microsoft cant take the time nor spend that much money (Yes, That much money) in order to patch up every hole. In fact, it would be impossible.