  In a generic 'universal' theory of electroweak symmetry breaking, non
fine-tuned heavy new physics affects the low-energy data through four
parameters, which include and properly extend the generally insufficient S and
T. Only by adding the LEP2 data to the global electroweak fit, can all these
four form factors be determined and deviations from the SM be strongly
constrained. Several of the recently proposed models (little Higgs, gauge
bosons in extra dimensions or Higgsless models in 5D) are recognized to be
'universal' in a straightforward way after a proper definition of the effective
vector boson fields. Among various applications, we show that proposed
Higgsless models in 5D, when calculable, do not provide a viable description of
electroweak symmetry breaking in their full range of parameters.
