Microsoft Windows XP moving into reduced-support phase
Posted on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 @ 05:03 AM
Eight years after its initial release, Windows XP will transition from the Mainstream to the Extended support phase of its life cycle. Although Mainstream support is typically five years, it was increased for XP due to the delayed release of Windows Vista (among other challenges). Even though XP security fixes will be available for another five years, many users will want to transition to an OS still in Mainstream support.
Entering Extended Support
Three elements of support are eliminated when an OS enters Extended support, as customers can no longer obtain no-charge incident support, make a warranty claim, or ask Microsoft to make either a design change or add a new feature to the OS.
After XP transitions to Extended support, customers will still be entitled to any security-related hotfixes that Microsoft produces to address security vulnerabilities or bugs in XP. However, only customers with an Extended Hotfix Support Agreement (EHSA) are eligible to request nonsecurity patches during the Extended support life-cycle phase. EHSA customers must have a Premier or Essential support agreement and must either annually enroll in the program or have Software Assurance on XP. Customers must also pay a fee for each hotfix.
The following services will still be available when XP moves into Extended support:
- Security patches
- Paid support on a contract or incident basis
- Product-specific information in Microsoft's online Knowledge Base
- Product-specific information from the Microsoft Help and Support Web site.
Service Pack Retirement Dates
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 that date, it will patch both XP SP2 and XP SP3. After that date, it will patch only XP SP3. In either case, Microsoft will not release free patches for nonsecurity bugs, because Windows XP is in Extended support. Customers must purchase an Extended Hotfix Support Agreement (EHSA) to obtain nonsecurity bug fixes during the Extended phase.
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.
What to Do
After Apr. 14, 2009, XP will continue to work as it always did, with no reduction of functionality. Because the OS has been so widely used for so many years, most problems have likely been uncovered and either fixed with a patch or addressed with a documented workaround. Microsoft has enough faith in the stability of XP that it is continuing to make the OS available to OEMs for sale on new netbook computers until June 30, 2010, or one year after the general availability of Windows 7, whichever is later. It remains to be seen if Microsoft and the OEMs will advise customers of XP's support status when they purchase a netbook with XP preinstalled.
All customers still running XP should install the latest service pack, SP3, which was released in Apr. 2008. Although the retirement date for SP2 is not until July 13, 2010, getting to the latest set of already available and tested hotfixes installed while the system is in Mainstream support could make any problems deploying the service pack easier to resolve because no-charge incident support is still available.
Customers running XP on hardware with sufficient resources to run Vista SP1, and who don't plan to migrate to Windows 7 until the first service pack for that product is released, not likely before 2011, may want to upgrade to Vista (for which Mainstream support ends in Apr. 2012) if they find the Mainstream support benefits, such as the ability to make warranty claims, worthwhile.
If Extended support is sufficient for their needs, customers running XP on older hardware that cannot run Windows Vista can continue to use XP and move to later versions of Windows as they replace this hardware with new PCs.
Release and support dates for Windows XP are detailed at http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=3223
Release and retirement dates for Windows XP service packs are detailed at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifesupsps#Windows
Extended hotfix support is described at http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/sa/benefits/extended.mspx
A list of frequently asked questions about the support life cycle is available at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy