Important Dates for Windows Client

Mainstream support for Windows 7 will end in Jan. 2015. Windows Vista left Mainstream support in Apr. 2012, and Extended support for Windows XP SP3 ends in Apr. 2014. As Windows Vista has entered the Extended support phase of its product support life cycle, customers still running Windows Vista may want to consider upgrading to Windows 7 at this time.

Microsoft has changed its support policy for consumer editions of Windows. The new policy adds five years of Extended support, including access to security updates, and brings the policy in line with support for enterprise editions. Consumer editions of Windows XP will now be supported until Apr. 2014, Windows Vista until Apr. 2017, and Windows 7 until Jan. 2020. The change could help “bring your own device programs” and improve the overall threat environment for computers, depending on what Microsoft delivers during the Extended support phase.

OS service packs also have retirement dates. Once a service pack is retired, Microsoft will no longer make security patches available at that service pack level. In general, a Windows service pack is retired either 24 months after the next service pack is released or at the end of the Extended support phase, whichever comes first.