Using another browser does NOT necessarily relieve you of the need to keep IE current. It's integral in Windows, and the "holes" can be called up even if it's not the one you're using for your browsing. An IE patch IS a Windows patch.

Microsoft has allowed for a delay, limited to 60 days approximately, for network techies to plan for the installation; but if you don't install SP2 you will be unable to get any future patches via automatic update, since the autoupdate will attempt to install SP2 first, and must install all prior updates before putting SP2 on. You probably will not be able to get future updates by any means.

Not keeping one's own machine up to date and using appropriate AV and other defenses makes one about about as "socially acceptable" as Typhoid Mary. Probably not recognized, but capable of spreading disease and corruption to everyone they visit.

The problems people have with SP2 are pretty fully documented. You can plan to identify and avoid them with a little effort. You cannot safely put off installation of SP2 indefinitely.

John