Yeah, this has been my experience. I’ve got ABS on my current car but in winter the main advantage they provide is letting me know when it’s time to pump the brakes if I need to come to a stop. The times I haven’t pumped, let’s just say I was lucky that no one else was going through that intersection at the time.

I suspect they are tuned to avoid locking up the wheels in conditions other than ice/slick snow and the pulse is too quick for the tires to get traction when it releases.