For a computer shop to say they 'get about 80% of their work fixing problems caused by SP 2' is highly unprofessional... and probably wildly inaccurate.

How do they define 'fix'?

Taken out of context it is meaningless... but my bet is they really mean that SP2 has given many inexperienced users things to cope with that they can't understand (like the firewall default), and they've needed advice.

To me, that is no more a 'fault' than someone using unleaded fuel in a vehicle that isn't designed or adapted to use it, with the inevitable consequences.

It's what we call a picnic... Problem In Chair, Not In Computer...

Microsoft aren't the Good Guys by any means, but SP2 is much more reliable than many people seem to want to admit. All machines running XP that are in my care (either at work, or personal) have been patched to SP2, and the only 'problems' I've had reported to me seem to be directly linked to the firewall default.

I refrained from updating one machine at home for a while, but noticed an improvement in performance when I did update - in fact, a couple of irritating stability problems were cured.