Updated: August 2, 2020 (April 6, 2009)

Past Windows Client Versions

As managing vice president, Rob Helm covers Microsoft collaboration and content management. His 25-plus years of experience analyzing Microsoft’s technology... more

Mainstream support for Windows Vista will end in Apr. 2012. Support for Windows XP SP1 ended in Oct. 2006.

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.

That puts the retirement date of XP SP2 at July 13, 2010. If Microsoft finds a security vulnerability in XP before July 13, 2010, it will make a version of the patch for both XP SP2 and XP SP3. If a security vulnerability is found after the XP SP2 retirement date, only an SP3 version will be released. Because these dates both fall in the Extended phase, no hotfixes for nonsecurity bugs would be provided unless a customer has an Extended Hotfix Support Agreement.

As it is unlikely that Microsoft will release a fourth service pack for XP while the product is in the Extended support phase, the service pack retirement date for SP3 will be when XP leaves Extended support on Apr. 8, 2014.

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