MICROSOFT SUPPORT LIFECYCLE BLOG : Announcements

Reminder: Support for the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine

Jared Proudfoot — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:35:00 GMT

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:

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

Announcing Longer Support Timelines for Key Microsoft Dynamics Service Packs

Jared Proudfoot — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:35:00 GMT

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.*

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

Jared Proudfoot — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:39:00 GMT

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.*

Welcome to the new Support Lifecycle blog!

Jared Proudfoot — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 22:43:00 GMT

Welcome to the new home of the Microsoft Support Lifecycle blog. For those of you who are not familiar, the Microsoft Support Lifecycle is the set of policies that governs the length of support for all Microsoft products. Or, as described by our website, "provides consistent and predictable guidelines for product support availability when a product releases and throughout that product’s life". The goal of this blog is not to replace the main http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle website as the authoritative source for information on the policy. Instead, our goal is to use this blog as an informal communication mechanism to supplement the site and answer some of the common questions we receive.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

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