Product Life-Cycle Phases and Options

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.

For references to material that explains Microsoft’s product life-cycle support policies in more detail, see the chapter “Resources“.

Microsoft offers customers of business and developer products, which include Windows client and server, the option of entering into a Custom support contract that provides support for legacy products during a product migration.

Life-Cycle Phases and Options	Normal Duration	Product Support Options	Software Updates
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)