Windows XP users lose out, but think they're still invincible.
I think that is a very broad statement painting all XP users with the same brush. I think that intermediate and advanced users who understand how the OS works and the potential vulnerabilities of the kernel, as well as having a balanced knowledge of 3rd party security programs, their viability at the application level, can fortify XP in a way the average/inexperienced user can't. See article I wrote
here.
Even with those actions taken, and understanding there was simply no way to mitigate exploits to the kernel without patching, I elected to install Zorin, a Linux distro, along side XP. Just in case...