MICROSOFT SUPPORT LIFECYCLE BLOG : Products

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.*

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 Generally, we don’t end support for a component unless we ship a newer version of the component as a part of a product’s service pack.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

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.*

Support Transitions for Office 2000 and Office 2003 SP2

Jared Proudfoot — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:54:00 GMT

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.*

Upcoming Support Transitions for Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003

Jared Proudfoot — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:18:00 GMT

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?

Jared Proudfoot — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:46:00 GMT

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?

Jared Proudfoot — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 01:56:00 GMT

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

Jared Proudfoot — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:31:00 GMT

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.*