FSM, I own a computer service business. I read all the time. I have read several of the sites you mention, I also am intelligent enough to know that not everything I read on the internet can be taken as "gospel". I go by what I see and work on everyday.
BTW, Microsoft would never "admit it has bugs", Microsoft HAS ADMITTED that dishonest and decietful people could take advantage of IE's functionallity to attempt to have a user install ActiveX components that would adversely effect their computers.
So the bottom line is, do you want to be save inside your fox hole and miss allot of what is on the internet, or do you want to be able to see content and have to think before you click?
I warn all my customers not to just click and accept everything they see. Everytime I work on a computer that is having software problems, it enevitably comes down to the customer saying "Well everything was fine until I tried to install _____, it's a free download you know." or "It said I had errors and all I did was click on the button to find out what was wrong with my machine."
Simple fixes, both. I charge a flat $50.00 fee for virus removal and I educate the user while I am working.