Mixture:
I'm an XP user on old "2007" kit: + Linux (IP tables Locked as a brick House.)
I do have commercial experience of supporting small 18-24 user groups , not big iron kit. SCO and Win R2003- perhaps small cake in your experience.
Surely, using Win 2003/2008 R server Admin you can limit and modify the the usage policies associated with your win XP users: hard ! Game
On the home front; for people like me - save your EM outbound data ( say Minitab/Mathcad attachments to USB) and only use your PC in Lnux mode.for internet - I have done the usual port i/o allocations - T'bird for the afflicted BT users - like me.
It's not as Mad Hat (No joke) as you imagine:
There's a huge intellectual input, in terms of customisation associated with long standing units associated with many user individuals and groups.
Its not the game promoted by "PC Mags/Advice helpers sponsored by MS advertising" etc.
Its a stinker of a problem for many ! - Am I going to migrate my Mathcad 14 ! - to 8.1 Sod knows.
Look at the granularity of the problem. ?
It's a very complex call - MS have really given the pony the stick of ginger up the jet pipe here. - I can switch off N/W connections physically.
CAT III