MICROSOFT SUPPORT LIFECYCLE BLOG : Windows XP

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 Generally, we don’t end support for a component unless we ship a newer version of the component as a part of a product’s service pack.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

Extended Support Begins for Windows XP and Continues Until 2014

David Carrington — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:25:00 GMT

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.*

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.*