There are a number of Microsoft support lifecycle milestones in 2010. You need to be aware of the milestones and plan system and Operating System (OS) deployments to ensure that you maintain access to Microsoft support and updates.
Windows XP SP2 will no longer be the supported service pack level for Windows XP computers as of July 13th 2010. If you are running Windows XP SP2 or a previous version of the OS will need to upgrade to Windows XP Service Pack 3 (or Windows 7).
Windows Vista RTM will no longer be supported as of April 13th 2010. Customers running Windows Vista RTM should upgrade to Windows Vista SP2 (or Windows 7).
Extended support will end for Windows 2000 Server and Professional. Customers running Windows 2000 need to migrate to a supported version of Windows in order to receive updates or support.
You should also consider the cost in time and effort for migrating to a new service pack and consider whether that justifies a migration to Windows 7.
Important Dates
End of Extended Support for the following Products:
Windows XP SP2 July 13th 2010
Windows 2000 Professional SP4 July 13th 2010
Windows 2000 Server SP4 July 13th 2010
End of Mainstream Support for the following products:
Windows Vista RTM April 13th 2010
What is End of Support?
Basically support for the product ends! The Microsoft® Support Lifecycle (MSL) provides predictable and consistent support timelines for Microsoft products, to customers worldwide. The Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy offers a minimum of:
Ten years of support (five years Mainstream Support and five years Extended Support) at the supported service pack level for Microsoft Business and Developer products.
Five years of Mainstream Support at the supported service pack level for Microsoft Consumer/Hardware/Multimedia products.
Note: Mainstream and Extended Support is ONLY provided at the supported service pack level. Microsoft will support products running at the latest Service Pack level and the prior Service Pack level, 24 months after the release of the latest Service Pack.
Mainstream Support Phase
Mainstream Support is the first phase of the product support lifecycle. At the supported service pack level, Mainstream Support includes:
1 - Incident support (no-charge incident support, paid incident support, support charged on an hourly basis, support for warranty claims)
2 - Security update support
3 - The ability to request non-security hotfixes
Extended Support Phase
The Extended Support phase is available after the Mainstream Support phase ends for Business and Developer products only. At the supported service pack level, Extended Support includes:
1 - Security update support at no additional cost
2 - Non-security related hotfix support if the customer has purchased a separate Extended Hotfix Support agreement (per-fix fees also apply).
Note that Extended support does not include:
1 - Requests for warranty support, design changes, or new features.
2 - Support for Consumer, Hardware, or Multimedia products.
So what do you need to do?
If you have Windows XP SP2 currently deployed then you need to migrate to Windows XP SP3.
Companies running Windows Vista RTM should migrate to Windows Vista SP2. (Again consider the cost in time and effort for migrating to a new service pack and discuss with ramsac or your incumbent supplier the option of migrating to Windows 7).
If you have Windows XP you should use Microsoft Update or Automatic Updates to download and install Windows XP SP3. SP3 can be downloaded from Microsoft Update at http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate.
If you are using Windows Vista you should use Windows Update to download and install Windows Vista SP2. Although note that Service Packs may not be available through Windows Update on Windows Vista computers until other available updates have been installed. You will also need to separately install SP1 before installing SP2.
If you are running Windows 2000 Server or Professional edition then you need to migrate to Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7.
If you are still running Windows XP SP2 you obviously need to be aware of your options but without doubt it is a great time to talk to us about a Windows 7 deployment discussion.
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