MICROSOFT SUPPORT LIFECYCLE BLOG

Windows Server 2008 ships with SP1? Whatever happened to Windows Server 2008 RTM?! All this and more explained!

The Microsoft Support Lifecycle team receives a lot of feedback from customers, particularly regarding “intriguing” topics. We’ll call this one the case of the missing Windows Server service pack release.

So what happened? Windows Server 2008 shipped on May 6, 2008 to great fanfare and well-deserved acclaim as one of the best Windows Server releases ever. However, people soon noticed in the Help, About box of Windows Explorer that Service Pack 1 (SP1) was already installed – which was odd as nobody remembered deliberately installing SP1. With the release of SP2 for Windows Server 2008, many customers had questions about the missing service pack level (ie, the RTM release) and how long it would be supported!

Was this a mistake of some kind? A marketer gone wild? The answer is a gripping tale of ship dates slipped, codebases shared and a good bit of making things fit.

Windows server and client releases have shared a common codebase since late 2001. This change simplified servicing and allowed code development methodologies that resulted in more secure and better tested Windows releases. So far, so good.

But what does a developer do when Windows Vista SP1 is being built out and Windows Server 2008 is built on the same codebase? The answer is simple: for clarity, one carries on using the Vista SP1 codebase and names the Windows Server 2008 initial RTM release SP1. This way, the naming internally remains the same and confusion is avoided. When maintaining the Windows code trees, fixes for Windows Vista SP1 are also developed for Windows Server 2008 SP1. The same story is true of the recently released SP2 for both server and client platforms.

And so our thrilling tale ends -- but not without us first telling you when support for Windows Server 2008 (RTM with SP1 installed) retires: July 12, 2011. Please update your Windows Server 2008 installation to a supported service pack before that date to ensure continued support from Microsoft. Remember, both Mainstream and Extended Support are available only at a supported service pack level.

Thanks for your continued questions and comments. More information on Microsoft’s support policies can also be found on the Microsoft Support Lifecycle website.

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

Reminder: Support for the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine

Microsoft has phased out the MSJVM in our products, as provided for in the January 2001 settlement agreement with Sun.  Microsoft provided public support for the MSJVM, including addressing specific security vulnerabilities, through December 31, 2007.  After this date, Microsoft stopped providing public support for the MSJVM, including security updates, assisted support and code changes. 

Microsoft's first priority is to help our customers have a safer computing experience.  To that end, the security updates, support articles and migration tools developed prior to the December 31, 2007 deadline were made available for customers to download from the Microsoft website.  As provided in the 2001 settlement agreement, Microsoft provided continued access to these updates until June 30, 2009. 

For additional information, visit the following sites:

• Microsoft Java Virtual Machine Support
• MSJVM Transition FAQ
• MSJVM Press Release
• Settlement Agreement and Mutual Limited Release

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

The Support Lifecycle for Internet Explorer

As you have probably heard, the Internet Explorer team released Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) on March 19^th.  This is a huge milestone and we want to congratulate everyone in the IE team on the accomplishment.  If you haven’t already done so, I’d encourage you to read more about IE8 at http://www.microsoft.com/ie.

In today’s post, I wanted to take a moment to explain the Support Lifecycle for Internet Explorer.  With the recent release, we have already received a number of questions about IE8 and the impact to the Support Lifecycle of other versions of IE.

First, I should probably provide a general explanation of the Support Lifecycle for “components”. Generally, A “component” is defined as a set of files or features that are included with a Microsoft product, whether it is shipped with the product, included in a product service pack, or later made available as a web download for the product. Under the Support Lifecycle policy, we support components with the product or service pack that it shipped for. The product to which a component is associated normally is specified in the component’s end-user license agreement (EULA). Generally, we don’t end support for a component unless we ship a newer version of the component as a part of a product’s service pack.

Internet Explorer is considered as a component of the operating system (OS) for which it was released. The support timelines for IE are inherited from the OS and its associated service packs. Basically, this means that the versions of Internet Explorer that shipped for a specific OS or service pack will be supported with the support lifecycle of the OS or service pack. Support for older versions of IE will not end unless we ship a replacement version of IE in a future OS service pack.

Internet Explorer 8, for example, is supported on the following Windows operating systems:

·         Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later

·         Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 or later

·         Windows Vista RTM or later

·         Windows Server 2008 RTM or later

As per the policy, we will not end support previous versions of Internet Explorer on supported operating system versions. 

I hope everyone is still with me...  J  Let’s look at a couple of examples ensure everyone is clear:  With Windows Vista we included Internet Explorer 7 (IE7).  Now that IE8 has been released we will continue to support IE7 on Vista.  IE7 will continue to be supported with Vista unless we ship a newer version of IE in a future OS service pack.

I’ve already explained the situation for Vista, but what about Windows XP?  The situation for Windows XP is very similar.  Both IE6 and IE7 will continue to be supported with Windows XP.  They will continue to be supported until the end of support for Windows XP on April 8, 2014.  We made a similar announcement on the Support Lifecycle website, when IE7 was released.

There is one other thing I should cover…  Since IE is a component of the OS, customers must upgrade to a supported service pack to continue to receive support for IE.  If you not are running on a supported OS service pack, you will need to upgrade to continue to receive security updates or be eligible for any of our other support options (such as Premier, Pro or Pay Per Incident cases).

I hope that makes the situation for components and IE more clear.  If you have any feedback regarding this policy, or alternative ways to explain it, please let us know!

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

Announcing Longer Support Timelines for Key Microsoft Dynamics Service Packs

As you may have seen, Microsoft recently announced an update to the service pack policy for Dynamics products.  In today's post, I want to provide a brief overview of this announcement and recap the Service Pack Support Policy within the Microsoft Support Lifecycle.

You may recall from a previous posting that when a new service pack is released, Microsoft will provide either 12 or 24 months of support for the previous service pack, varying by product family.  This means that when we release a new service pack we will start the end of support clock for the previous service pack.  For example, when we release Service Pack 2, support for Service Pack 1 would end either 12 or 24 months later.  Until recently, Dynamics products have been providing 12 months of support for the previous service pack when they released a new service pack version.

The recent announcement extends the service pack support policy for Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics AX, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM to 24 months of support for a previous service pack, when a new service pack is released.  This update applies to all the service packs that are currently supported (as of June 8, 2009), for the above-listed Microsoft Dynamics products.  Additionally, per the new policy, support will also be reactivated for select service packs for which support has expired under the previous 12-month policy, but for which support would have continued under the new 24-month policy.  For example, Dynamics AX 4.0 Service Pack 1 was previously schedued to end support on October 14, 2008.  Under the revised policy, we have provided an additional 12 months of support (for a total of 24 months).  This means that Dynamics AX 4.0 Service Pack 1 now ends on October 13, 2009.

A complete list of the impacted products and their associated dates can be found within the announcement.  In addition, the Support Lifecycle dates for each product have also been updated on the Support Lifecycle website.  You can see all of the Dynamics products by going to the specific Product Family page for Business Solutions.

This update has no impact on the Mainstream Support and Extended Support dates for these products. Mainstream Support for these products will continue, as per the Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy, for five years from the date of general availability of the products, and Extended Support for another five years after the end of Mainstream Support.  Both Mainstream Support and Extended Support are available ONLY at the product’s supported service pack level.

I hope this helps clarify the announcement.  Please keep the questions and comments coming!  We appreciate your feedback and are always looking for ideas for future blog postings.

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

Support Transitions for Office 2000 and Office 2003 SP2

It's time for another friendly product transition reminder...  This time, we are going to focus on Office 2000 and Office 2003 SP2.
 
All editions of Office 2000 will reach the end of the Extended Support phase on July 14, 2009.  After this date, Office 2000 will no longer be publicly supported.  This means that Microsoft will no longer provide any assisted support and will no longer provide security updates for this product.  Self-Help Online Support (including the knowledge base and other articles on http://support.microsoft.com/) will continue to be available for a minimum of 12 months after this date.  This means that there is very little time remaining to complete your migration to a newer version of Office!  If you haven't already done so, I would recommend discussing your options with your local Microsoft representative.

In addition, I also want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that support for Office 2003 SP2 ended on October 14, 2008.  To continue to receive support for Office 2003 (including future security updates), you will need to upgrade to a supported service pack.  Office 2003 SP3 is currently available from the Download Center and Microsoft Update websites.  Unfortunately, we still occasionally recieve questions about the Service Pack Support Policy.  Please be sure to keep updated on Microsoft service packs, to remain supported!

Each of these product transitions have previously been announced on the Support Lifecycle website and within our quarterly newsletter.  Be sure to check the site for updates or subscribe to the newsletter, today!

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

Extended Support Begins for Windows XP and Continues Until 2014

Recently there has been a fair amount of press coverage regarding the end of Mainstream Support for Windows XP. Released at the tail end of 2001, Windows XP has been a solid hit in the marketplace and there has been some concern about what the move from Mainstream to Extended Support means for customers.

To be clear, Microsoft will continue to support Windows XP until 8 April 2014 – about five years from now. So what are the differences between Mainstream and Extended?

Microsoft divides support for Business and Developer products (including the Windows XP operating system) into two distinct timeframes: Mainstream Support and Extended Support. In a nutshell, Mainstream Support provides both consumers and enterprise customers with a full offering of support including complimentary support, design change requests, security updates and other kinds of updates for the product.

Extended Support does alter the range of support a bit, but for the vast majority of customers the essential core remains the same. For example, customers will continue to receive free security updates and can call in for paid support until the second Tuesday in April of 2014. Enterprise customers with Premier Support who may need non-security hotfixes should consider enrolling in an optional support program named Extended Hotfix Support (EHS). EHS is required by very few customers as the product has matured to the point where design changes are relatively infrequent. For more information on obtaining Extended Hotfix Support, enterprise customers should contact their Microsoft account representative.

Customers who purchased Windows XP pre-installed on their machines will continue to receive support from the manufacturer of their PC (often called the Original Equipment Manufacturer or OEM).  Each OEM determines how long they will support products pre-installed on their machines.  Therefore, the April 14th transition from Mainstream to Extended Support is most relevant for customers who purchased Windows XP through retailers or volume licensing, a relatively small piece of the XP installed base.

Recommendations for users of Windows XP

• To receive support and security updates, you must be running on a supported product and on a supported service pack version. For Windows XP this is currently SP2 or SP3.
• Visit Windows Update regularly and confirm you have installed all available security updates. These are critical to keep your machine free from malware.
• Rest easy knowing that Microsoft will continue to support Windows XP for another five years!

Thanks for your continued questions and comments. More information on Microsoft’s support policies can also be found on the Microsoft Support Lifecycle website. At Microsoft, we value our customer’s experiences using our products and providing industry-leading support is just one aspect of that commitment.

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

Is Microsoft really going to keep pricing for Custom Support flat in 2009?

We've received many questions regarding our recent announcement to keep Custom Support prices flat for the 2009 contract year.  In resposne to this we've compiled the following list of Frequently Asked Questions:

Is Microsoft really going to keep pricing for Custom Support flat in 2009?
The answer is YES….  Microsoft is aware that customers are making hard financial choices in today’s economy.  Every day there is news of Fortune 100 company layoffs, downsizing and reorganization. Microsoft has announced flat year-over-year (YOY) pricing for Custom Support for select products and service packs in Custom Support for 2009.

What IS Custom Support anyway, I never heard of it!
The Custom Support program provides customers with the opportunity to receive support on legacy versions of some Microsoft products and service packs that have reached the end of support. 

Why is Microsoft doing this?
To respond to the current market downturn and customer needs, Microsoft is not going to increase the price for the 2009 contract year, but will maintain the 2008 pricing.

How does this decision help customers?
This price freeze not only provides cost savings to Microsoft customers but enables them to maintain support on older versions of Microsoft products until they have had the opportunity to complete their migration to supported versions.

Is Custom Support available for ALL legacy Microsoft products?
No, Custom Support is currently only available for a select number of products.  For details on which products are covered, please contact your Microsoft Technical Account Manager or other Microsoft Account Representative.

Can any customer purchase Custom Support?
Only customers enrolled in Premier Support can purchase Custom Support. To learn more about Premier Support, point your browser here:
http://www.microsoft.com/services/Microsoftservices/srv_premier.mspx

I still have questions and need more information.  Who do I contact?
If you still have questions, please contact your Microsoft Technical Account Manager or other Microsoft Account Representative.  They will be able to provide you with additional details on the Custom Support program and the impact of this annoucement.

I hope this information helps to clarify the situation.  If you have other questions, please feel free to leave a comment to this posting!  We will do our best to answer them.

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

Everything you always wanted to know about Extended Hotfix Support for Daylight Saving Time enrollment but were afraid to ask!

The Microsoft Support Lifecycle team gets lots of questions about Extended Hotfix Support for Daylight Saving Time (EHS for DST).  Although this offering was initiated in 2007, there still seems to be some confusion around its purpose and how to obtain it.

In an earlier post we talked about Extended Hotfix Support and its purpose: a program that provides customers with the ability to request non-security hotfixes for products in the Extended Support phase of the lifecycle. EHS for DST is slightly different, but related.

What is the history behind Extended Hotfix Support for Daylight Saving Time? Daylight Saving time (DST), and "Summer Time" in much of Europe, is the practice of moving local time forward one hour in the spring and backwards in the autumn. These spring and fall shifts to DST are different between northern and southern hemispheres. The start of DST in the northern hemisphere is in March or April (depending on the country/continent), and ending in October or November. In the southern hemisphere, the changes are the opposite, with DST beginning in October and ending in March or April. Generally, DST is not observed in Asia and Africa, and parts of Central and South America. Unless certain updates are applied to your computer, the time zone settings for your computer's system clock may be incorrect during this four-week period. In particular, you must make sure that both your Windows operating system and your calendar programs are updated.

Daylight Saving Time hotfixes can be applied to your computer to correct the time zone settings that get “out of synch” because of the DST time changes; and are available for products in the Mainstream phase of the lifecycle free of charge.  To obtain DST hotfixes for products in the Extended Support phase, customers must purchase Extended Hotfix Support for Daylight Saving Time. EHS for DST entitles them to receive daylight saving time hotfixes for all affected products in the Extended Support phase.  The cost is $4,000 USD and the program is open to all Microsoft customers. A list of affected products is available here. 

COMMON QUESTIONS:

When will my Extended Hotfix Support for DST contract expire?

All EHS DST support contracts expire on the 31st of December of the calendar year, so any contract signed during 2008 will expire on December 31, 2008.

After I enroll, how do I get the hotfixes?

Once you enroll you will receive access to the Microsoft Connect web site where you can download the appropriate updates.

My company purchased a Extended Hotfix Support for DST contract in October 2007. I thought the contract was good for 12 months. Do I have to purchase another contract to receive 2008 DST updates?

Your contract ended on December 31, 2007.  EHS for DST contracts signed on or after January 1, 2008 will end on the 31st  of December of the calendar year in which the contract commences; so you must purchase another contract for 2008.

Additional information can be found here: 

• Daylight Savings Time Help and Support Center
• Obtaining Daylight Savings Time Updates for Microsoft Products 
• Microsoft Daylight Savings Time and Timezone FAQs Blog

Let us know if the explanation above helped you better understand Daylight Saving Time Extended Hotfix Support!

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

MS08-067 and Unsupported Products

Before we spend some time talking about the Extended Hotfix Support program for DST, I thought it would be a good idea to address a number of questions we have recently received regarding the release of MS08-067.  Most of the questions that we have received have been regarding older, unsupported products and services packs.  We’ve received questions regarding Windows 95, Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0, Windows XP SP1 and Windows 2000 SP3, just to name a few.

Under the Support Lifecycle policy, once a product reaches the end of support we no longer provide any support for that product.  What does that mean?  Basically, this means we stop providing any new information or assisted support for the product.  After the end of support, we leave the knowledgebase information online for a minimum of 12 months.  We do not provide security updates, any assisted support (telephone support), nor assistance through Premier or Professional support, etc…

From a security point of view, running an unsupported version should be considered a significant security risk in itself.  Since Microsoft does not produce security updates or provide any type of assisted support for unsupported versions, customers are taking a significant risk by running these versions within their environment.  If you encounter any types of issues with an unsupported product, there are no Microsoft resources available to help.

Remember, to continue to receive support and security updates, you must be running on a supported product and on a supported service pack version.  More information on this can also be found on our website at http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/.

Thanks for your continued questions and comments.  We’ll get back to the DST discussion within the next week or so.

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

Upcoming Support Transitions for Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003

The past couple of months have been very busy for the Support Lifecycle team…  Unfortunately, due to other commitments, I haven’t had an opportunity to post to the blog in quite some time.  It’s been great to receive the friendly prodding for a new post from folks who had previously been regular readers of the blog.   I’ll do my best to get back to a regular posting rhythm over the next couple of weeks.  I’ve also invited other members of the Support Lifecycle team to join-in and occasionally post.  This should help ensure that we keep a regular posting cadence.  Thanks to everyone for their continued interest and all of the reminders!

In today’s post, I want to highlight important upcoming support transitions for Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Professional, and Windows Server 2003. 

All editions of Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional will reach the end of the Extended Support phase on July 13, 2010.  After this date, Windows 2000 will no longer be publicly supported.  This means that Microsoft will no longer provide any assisted support and will no longer provide security updates for this product.  Self-Help Online Support (including the knowledge base and other articles on http://support.microsoft.com) will continue to be available for a minimum of 12 months after this date.

This means that customers only have another 1.5 years to complete their migrations away from Windows 2000.  If you haven’t already started to plan your migrations, I’d recommend considering this fairly soon.  You don’t want to get caught in a situation where you’re still running Windows 2000 for a critical application and not be eligible for any type of support.

Additionally, all editions of Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 will transition from the Mainstream Support phase to the Extended Support phase on July 13, 2010.  These products will continue to be publicly supported in the Extended Support phase through July 14, 2015.  Please keep in mind that customers without Software Assurance, who wish to enroll for Extended Hotfix Support, must do so within 90 days of the end of Mainstream Support. 

This is probably also a good time to remind everyone that Windows XP is also transitioning to the Extended Support phase on April 14, 2009.

Each of these support transitions are follow the Support Lifecycle policy and have previously been announced.  In most cases, I hope this information doesn't come as a surprise.

Next time, I’ll explain a little more about our Extended Hotfix Support program for DST.  If you have any other topic suggestions, or any general policy questions that you’d like addressed on the blog, please let us know!

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

Windows XP SP3 released! What does that mean for the Support Lifecycle of XP?

Many of you probably saw last week’s announcement regarding the release of Windows XP Service Pack 3.  This release has prompted a number of questions from customers regarding the impact it has to the Support Lifecycle for Windows XP.   So, let me try to explain…

You may recall from previous postings that support for Business & Developer products is provided for a minimum of 10 years (5 years in the Mainstream Support phase phase and 5 years in the Extended Support phase).  These dates may be extended, if a follow-on product release is delayed.  This rule only applies for new product versions and not to new service packs.  The release of a new service pack does not impact the Support Lifecycle of the product.

However, a new service pack release does impact the end of support for the previous service pack.  In the service pack policy posting, we discussed how support for a previous service pack will either be 12 or 24 months from the release of a new service pack version.

So, with the release of XP SP3, we begin the end of support clock for XP SP2.  Since the Windows product family provides 24 months of support for the previous service pack, this would mean that XP SP2 will end 24 months following the release of SP3.  Windows XP Service Pack 2 will end on July 13, 2010.  These support dates can be found on the Support Lifecycle website.

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

What’s happening to Windows XP on June 30th?

I want to take another break from the discussion of the overall Support Lifecycle policies to address some common confusion that we’ve been hearing regarding the support dates for Windows XP.  Recently, there have been a number of posts in the blogosphere about Windows XP and the upcoming end of Direct OEM and Retail License availability.  Some people are interpreting this as the end of support for Windows XP.

Please let me try and clear this up…  Support for Windows XP will continue, in accordance with the Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy.  This means that the Mainstream Support phase will end on April 14, 2009 and the Extended Support phase will end on April 8, 2014.  That’s at least another 6 years of support remaining for Windows XP!

Remember, that Windows XP was launched in 2001 and Microsoft committed to providing a minimum of 10 years of support (5 years of Mainstream Support and 5 years of Extended Support) at the time it was released.  In accordance with the policy, when we announced the updated release date of Windows Vista, Microsoft also provided additional 2 years Mainstream Support for Windows XP.  Last year, we also announced the addition of an Extended Support phase to the consumer editions of Windows XP.  Supporting products for this length of time is not something that is typical in the software industry.  This is a significant advantage for Microsoft customers, because it allows for future business planning and allows our customers to maximize their investment in Microsoft technologies by understanding how to achieve the most productive use of the product.

So, what is really changing on June 30th?  To understand this, I would recommend reading the Windows Lifecycle Policy page and the official Support Lifecycle pages for Windows XP.  Essentially, this means that OEMs and Retailers will not be able to obtain new copies of Windows XP.  That’s it.  System Builders will continue to be able to obtain XP through January 31st, 2009. 

There is still plenty of support left for Windows XP.  If you read any stories that say otherwise, don't believe them.  :) 

Have you seen any posts that don't tell the full story about Windows XP support?  What has been your experience with understanding the Windows XP Support Lifecycle policy?  What are your thoughts on the length of support for Windows XP?  Please leave us some comments and tell us about it!

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

End of Support for Visual Basic 6.0

I wanted to take a moment to remind everyone that public support for Visual Basic 6 came to an end on April 8th, 2008.  If you already subscribe to our quarterly newsletter you probably already know the details behind this.  If not, here is a quick explanation of what’s happening on the second Tuesday of April…

Visual Basic 6 (VB6) can basically be divided into three main deliverables…

• Visual Basic 6 IDE -- the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) used to develop VB 6.0 applications
• Visual Basic 6 Runtime -- the base libraries and execution engine used to run VB 6.0 applications
• Visual Basic 6 Runtime Extended Files -- select ActiveX control OCX files, libraries, and tools shipping with the IDE media and as an online release
  

Support for the VB6 IDE came to an end on April 8th.  This means that Microsoft will no longer provide any additional assisted support, security updates or development assistance on the IDE or the VB6 language.  However, online information (such as MSDN articles and the Knowledge Base) will remain online for at least the next 12 months.

Support for the VB6 Runtime will continue.  Generally, the VB6 Runtime is shipped as a component of the operating system and will be supported with the product that it shipped with.  For example, since the VB6 Runtime shipped as a component of Windows XP, the runtime will continue to be supported for the life of Windows XP.  The VB6 Runtime has shipped on all of our OS releases and will continue to be supported with all those OSes.

Since the VB6 Runtime is supported with the OS, customers will be able to open support cases and request assistance if the VB6 Runtime is not operating as expected or is causing problems with their application.  In addition, we will continue to provide security updates for the VB6 runtime.  We will not provide any development assistance or support for the IDE, however.

The VB6 Runtime Extended Files are generally installed by the IDE or from Microsoft.com and are redistributed by developers with their application.  This redistribution is often required to ensure the functionality of the application.  The product team will be releasing a new, supported set of these tools online in the coming weeks.  To obtain support, customers will need to ensure they are running the supported versions of these files.

More information on how the Visual Basic 6 runtime will be supported can be found in the MSDN Visual Basic 6 Resource Center.  On this site, the product team has detailed a number of the support scenarios and files, especially as they pertain to Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.   It’s a great resource if you have any outstanding questions.

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

What is Extended Hotfix Support?

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, during the Extended Support phase we no longer provide non-security hotfixes without enrollment in the Extended Hotfix Support program.  Simply put, the Extended Hotfix Support program provides the ability to request non-security hotfixes for products that are in the Extended Support phase. 

Remember, Extended Hotfix Support (EHS) only provides the opportunity to request a non-security hotfix for a new bug discovered during the Extended Support phase.  It has no impact on a customer’s ability to request support, security updates, or other non-security hotfixes created during the Mainstream Support phase.

To enroll in EHS, customers must already have Premier Support.  In addition, enrollment in the program must occur within the first 90 days of the product entering the Extended Support phase.  If the customer misses this deadline, there may not be an opportunity to enroll in EHS again. 

The only exception to the 90 day enrollment rule is for customers with Software Assurance (SA).  Customers with Software Assurance on select products are eligible for a benefit which includes the program fee for Extended Hotfix Support and allows enrollment at any time.  Essentially, this means that the SA customers only need to sign the appropriate paperwork and pay the per hotfix fee.  The products that are included in this benefit are: Microsoft Office Professional, Microsoft Windows Client, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM), Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS), and Microsoft Windows Server.

Pricing for Extended Hotfix Support consists of an annual program fee, plus an additional fee for each non-security hotfix they receive.  Non-security hotfixes produced during the Extended Support phase will not be made available to other customers in the program, without enrollment in EHS or the per hotfix fee.  This is to ensure that all customers are treated equal and are being charged the same fees for each hotfix.

Whew…  That’s a lot of stuff to cover.  I hope it makes the program easier to understand, though.  :)

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

Why do we end support on the second Tuesday at the end of a quarter?

Until January 2006, support for products used to expire on the anniversary date of their general availability.  This meant that if a product was released on December 1, then it would also expire on December 1st - 5 or 10 years later.  We received a lot of feedback from customers that this was not only inconsistent and hard to track, but also very hard to manage.  In some cases, we might have 6 or 7 products all expiring on different days in the same month!

In January 2006, we announced a modification to the product expiration policy to address this issue.  Now, all product expiration dates are rounded forward to expire on the second Tuesday after the end of the quarter.  This means that if we previously had multiple products that would expire in December, with the new policy the new expiration dates would be rounded forward to the second Tuesday in January -- all expiring on the same day.  Under this policy, products would only expire four times a year.  This is much more predictable for customers and helps ease the management burden of tracking product expiration dates.

You may notice that this timeline also coincides with the second Tuesday security update release cycle.  In the event Microsoft releases a security update on the same day that a product is scheduled to end its support lifecycle, support of the security update will continue for a minimum of 30 days.

We’ve received a lot of positive feedback on this change, since it helps makes the product expiration dates easier to understand and manage.  What do you think?  Does it make it make product expiration more predictable in your environment?

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*