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Changes to Microsoft's support life cycle over the years have resulted in a complex matrix of product life cycles.
Although Microsoft made significant modifications to the support timetable in June 2004, the type of support available for a given product and the number of years in which support is available depend on the product classification. In addition, the company has made exceptions for several legacy products that remain in wide use. This chart shows the duration of assisted support (available for free or for an additional fee, depending on how old the product is) and life-cycle phases that apply to various product categories. The table is divided into two sections: a section covering current products, to which the June 2004 rules generally apply, and a section covering legacy products that are still in use, but that had already left Mainstream support by June 2004.
Current business and developer products do not have Custom support, because none are more than 10 years old, and that level of support is currently required only for legacy products that had a shorter assisted-support life cycle to begin with. However, if Microsoft perceives sufficient customer demand, it might eventually offer Custom support for some current products.
Product Category
Assisted Support Duration 1
Life-Cycle Phases
Current Products (in Mainstream support as of June 2004)
Consumer, Entertainment, and Hardware
5 years
Mainstream
Online Self-Help (8 years min.)
Consumer, Annual Release 2
3 years
Mainstream
Online Self-Help (8 years min.)
Microsoft Business Solutions
5 years
Mainstream
Online Self-Help (8 years min.)
Business applications. OSs, and servers, and developer products (current)
10 years min.
Mainstream
Extended
Online Self-Help (10 years min.)
Media Player and Internet Explorer
Variable (follows the life cycle of OS product on which the component version is released)
Mainstream
Extended
Online Self-Help
64-bit OSs
Variable (follows the life cycle of the equivalent 32-bit OS)
Mainstream
Extended
Online Self-Help
Legacy Products (no longer in Mainstream support as of June 2004)
Windows NT 4.0 and Exchange 5.5
10 years
Mainstream expired)
Extended
Custom
Online Self-Help (10 years min.)
Win 98, 98SE, and ME
8 years (Windows 98, 98SE)
6 years (Windows ME)
Mainstream (expired)
Extended 3
Online Self-Help (10 years min.)
NT 4.0 Embedded, CE 3.0
Mainstream (expired)
Extended
Custom
Online Self-Help (10 years min.)
1 Minimum years of support other than Online Self-Help.
2 Products such as Money, Streets and Trips, and Encarta that are updated every year.
3 Extended support on these products has officially expired, but Microsoft will continue to make critical and important fixes available for them until June 2006.
