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Posted: May 31, 2004
Microsoft divides a product's life cycle into three
phases—Mainstream, Extended, and Online Self-Help. During the Mainstream phase,
which generally lasts for five years, Microsoft offers the broadest set of product support
options and distribution channels, as well as the most extensive software update (patches,
service packs, etc.) policy. In subsequent phases—Extended (which typically lasts for
five years beyond the end of the Mainstream phase) and Online Self-Help (which lasts for at
least one year beyond the end of Extended support)—distribution channels, product
support options, and software update policy become more restrictive.
This chart summarizes the three phases as they apply to business and
development software, which includes desktop OSs such as Windows XP, desktop business
applications such as Office 2003, server OS such as Windows Server 2003, server-based
applications such as SQL Server 2000 and Exchange 2003, and development tools such as
Visual Studio 2003.
| Life-Cycle
Phase |
Duration |
Product
Support Options |
Patch
Policy |
Product
License Availability |
| Mainstream |
Five years from the date of general
availability or two years after the release of a successor product, whichever is longer |
Premier support and other fee-based product
support options Free incident support (per warranty)
Online support information |
Security-related updates (free) Non-security related updates (free)
Service Packs and update rollups (free) |
Though there is no official policy, product
licenses can typically be acquired through all standard distribution channels (volume,
retail, and OEM) during most of the Mainstream phase. |
| Extended |
Five years from the end of the Mainstream
phase or two years after the release of the second successor product, whichever is longer |
Premier support and other fee-based product
support options Online support information |
Security-related patches (free) Non-security hotfixes and patches (requires fee-based contract)
Service packs and features packs no longer released |
Product licenses are usually no longer
available for purchase through retail, OEMs, or System Builders channels. A product license may still be acquired via volume licensing programs by
purchasing the latest version of the product and then exercising downgrade rights, which
are included as part of all Microsoft volume licensing programs.1 |
| Online Self-Help |
One year or more from the end of the Extended
phase |
Online support information |
For certain products with large installed
bases (such as Windows NT 4.0), Microsoft may continue to offer free security-related
patches. |
The only way to acquire a product license is
through a volume licensing program. Customers can purchase the latest version of the
product and then exercise downgrade rights. |
1 With the exception of Windows XP Professional, products
purchased through the retail and OEM channels do not have downgrade rights. So, when
version n of a product is in the Extended phase, Microsoft licensing rules preclude
a customer from buying a more recent version (e.g., n+1) through these channels and
then downgrading (installing version n instead).
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