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By Greg DeMichillie [bio]
Posted: Jun. 9, 2008
The following an excerpt of a Product Roadmap report published by Directions on Microsoft, an
independent research firm focused exclusively on Microsoft strategy & technology. More samples of our content, as well as a list of upcoming articles and
reports are also available.
Support for business and development software is retired in a series of phases. The phases described below apply to all of the products discussed in this report.
Microsoft also offers business customers the option to enter into a custom support program that provides support for legacy products during a product migration. Custom support can be granted to customers who require support for longer than the 10-year minimum provided by Mainstream and Extended support, but it is only in effect while migrating to newer versions and requires that the customer have a Premier support agreement.
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Life-Cycle Phases and Options
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Normal Duration
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Product Support Options
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Software Updates
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| Mainstream Support Phase |
Five years from the date of general availability or two years after the release of a successor version, whichever is greater |
- Free incident support (per warranty)
- Online support information
- Fee-based support options (Professional support, Essential support, Premier support, Microsoft Services Partner Advantage, Software Assurance) |
- Security updates and hotfixes (free)
- Nonsecurity updates and hotfixes (free)
- Service packs or update rollups (free) |
| Extended Support Phase |
Five years from the end of the Mainstream phase or two years after the second successor version, whichever is greater (e.g., Windows 2000 Extended support ends two years after Windows Vista's release) |
- Fee-based support options (Professional support, Essential support, Premier support, Microsoft Services Partner Advantage, Software Assurance)
- Extended Hotfix Support Agreement (EHSA) |
- Security updates and hotfixes (free)
- Nonsecurity hotfixes (requires EHSA) |
| Custom Support Option |
- No fixed duration
- Available only while customer is migrating to current products |
Custom support agreement (requires a Premier support or Essential support agreement) |
- Critical and important security updates
- Hotfixes
- Workarounds
- New bug fixes (additional fee)
- Advisory services, e.g., migration (fee)
- Problem resolution (fee) |
| Online Self-Help |
Ten or more years from product release |
Online support information |
For certain products with large installed bases, Microsoft might continue to offer security hotfixes during this phase |
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