MICROSOFT SUPPORT LIFECYCLE BLOG : FAQ

The Support Lifecycle for Internet Explorer

David Carrington — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:04:00 GMT

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 Generally, we don’t end support for a component unless we ship a newer version of the component as a part of a product’s service pack.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.*

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.*

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

gloriav — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:29:00 GMT

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:

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

Jared Proudfoot — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 03:55:00 GMT

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.*