Microsoft Support Lifecycle

Microsoft Support Lifecycle

Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy provides consistent and predictable guidelines for product support availability when a product releases and throughout that product’s life. By understanding the product support available, customers are better able to maximize the management of their IT investments and strategically plan for a successful IT future.

Support Lifecycle Search

• Search the Support Lifecycle Product Database
  
• Products listed by name alphabetically
  
• Products listed by Product Family
  

If you do not find your product listed, check for lifecycle information on the Additional Products page and/or the Obsolete Products page.

Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy

The Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy applies to most products currently available through retail purchase or volume licensing and most future release products. Microsoft’s current policies, detailed below, offer a minimum of:

• 10 years of support (a minimum of 5 years Mainstream Support and a minimum of 5 years Extended Support) at the supported service pack level for Business, Developer, and Desktop Operating System products
• A minimum 5 years Mainstream Support at the supported service pack level for Consumer and Multimedia products
• 4 years Mainstream Support for Consumer Hardware products

Phases of the Support Lifecycle for Business, Developer, Consumer and Multimedia Software

Type of support Mainstream support phase Extended support phase Self-help online support Request to change product design and features Access to freely available online content, such as Knowledge Base articles, online product information, and online support WebCasts Security updates Non-security updates Complimentary support1 included with license, licensing program2 or other no-charge support programs 3 Paid-support (including pay-per-incident Premier and Essential Support) Available Not available Only available with Extended Hotfix Support Not available for Desktop Operating System consumer products *Please Note: Microsoft’s Support Lifecycle Policy does not apply to all products. To see the specific support start and end dates by applicable product, you can search the Support Lifecycle Product Database. 1 Refers to phone support and online support options. 2 For example, support incidents acquired through the Software Assurance program for server products. 3 Limited complimentary support may be available (varies by product).

Phases of the Support Lifecycle for Consumer Hardware

Mainstream Support

Mainstream Support is the first phase of the product support lifecycle.
At the supported service pack level, Mainstream Support for software products includes:

• Incident support (no-charge incident support, paid incident support, support charged on an hourly basis, support for warranty claims)
• Security update support
• The ability to request non-security updates

Please note:

• Enrollment in a maintenance program may be required to receive these benefits for certain products

• Hardware repairs or replacements and parts
• Services are free for products under warranty
• Support for a fee after warranty expires
• Software and Security updates

Extended Support

The Extended Support phase follows Mainstream Support for Business, Developer, and Desktop Operating System products.
At the supported service pack level, Extended Support includes:

• Paid support⁴
• Security update support at no additional cost
• Non-security related updates support requires Extended Hotfix Support to be purchased (per-fix fees also apply).⁵
  Extended Hotfix Support is not available for Desktop Operating System consumer products. More details are available here.

Please note:

• Microsoft will not accept requests for warranty support, design changes, or new features during the Extended Support phase
• Extended Support is not available for Consumer, Consumer Hardware, or Multimedia products
• Enrollment in a maintenance program may be required to receive these benefits for certain products

⁴ Limited complimentary support may be available (varies by product).

⁵ Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy permits the creation and broad distribution of certain non-security updates during the Extended Support phase. For example, it may be necessary to provide a non-security update that enables continued connectivity and servicing through the Automatic Update or Windows Server Update Service.

Self-Help Online Support

Self-Help Online Support is available throughout a product's lifecycle and for a minimum of 12 months after the product reaches the end of its support. Microsoft online Knowledge Base articles, FAQs, troubleshooting tools, and other resources, are provided to help customers resolve common issues.

Please note:

• Enrollment in a maintenance program may be required to receive these benefits for certain products

Service Pack Support Lifecycle Policy

As part of the effort to continually improve Microsoft software, updates and fixes are created and released for recognized issues. Many of these fixes are regularly combined into a single package (called a service pack) that is made available for installation. Both the Mainstream Support and Extended Support phases for software require a product’s supported service pack be installed to continue to receive full support (including security and DST updates).

Service Pack Support Policy

• When a new service pack is released, Microsoft will provide either 12 or 24 months of support for the previous service pack, varying according to the product family (for example, Windows, Office, Servers, or Developer tools)
• When support for a service pack ends, Microsoft will no longer provide new security updates, DST updates, or other non-security updates for that service pack. Commercially reasonable support will continue to be available, as described below
• When support for a product ends, support of all the service packs for that product will also end. The product’s support lifecycle supersedes the service pack support policy
• Support timelines for service packs will remain consistent within the product family
• Microsoft will publish specific support timelines for a previous service pack when the new service pack is released

Customers are highly encouraged to stay on a fully supported service pack to ensure they are on the latest and most secure version of their product.

For customers on supported products with service pack versions that have left full support, Microsoft offers commercially reasonable support as follows:

1. Commercially reasonable support incidents will be provided through Microsoft Customer Service and Support and Microsoft’s managed support offerings (such as Premier Support).
2. If the support incident requires escalation to development for further guidance, requires a non-security update, or requires a security update, customers will be asked to upgrade to a fully supported service pack.
3. Commercially reasonable support does not include an option to engage Microsoft’s product development resources; technical workarounds may be limited or not possible.

A matrix of the Microsoft product families and the duration of service pack support for each product family is as follows:

Product Family	12 Months	24 Months
Windows Client and Servers
Dynamics
Office
Servers
Developer Tools
Consumer Software, Multimedia, and Games

This support policy permits customers to receive existing non-security updates or to request new non-security updates for the fully supported service packs during the Mainstream Support phase.

Service packs are not automatically modified to include non-security updates developed after the service pack’s initial release date. An older service pack can be modified to include non-security updates developed after the service pack has released. Contact Microsoft and request the modification.

Security updates released with bulletins from the Microsoft Security Response Center will be reviewed and built for the supported service packs only. Daylight Savings Time and Time Zone updates are built for fully supported service packs only.

Microsoft strongly recommends that customers evaluate and install current service packs in a timely manner to make sure that systems are up-to-date with the most recent security software.

This revised policy became effective on April 13, 2010.

Lifecycle Security Update Policy

Microsoft is committed to providing products with improved security. Our long-term goal is to remove security vulnerabilities from all our products before they are released. To realize the dream of Trustworthy Computing is a key element of our vision. Although we strive to remove vulnerabilities during development, software vulnerabilities remain a fact today and we must be prepared to respond when they are discovered.

Security Update Policy

Microsoft will provide security update support for a minimum of 10 years (through the Extended Support phase) for Business, Developer, and Desktop Operating System products. The security updates will apply only to the supported service pack level for these products.

Microsoft will provide security update support through the Mainstream Support phase for Consumer and Multimedia products. The security updates will apply only to the supported service pack level for these products.

• Both the Mainstream Support and the Extended Support phases require that the product’s supported service pack level be installed to continue to receive and install security updates.
• Security updates will be available from Windows Update during the Mainstream Support phase, and the Extended Support phase (if available).
• Microsoft advises customers to install the latest product releases, security updates, and service packs to remain as secure as possible. Older products, such as Microsoft Windows Server 2000, may not meet today’s more demanding security requirements. Microsoft may be unable to provide security updates for older products.

For Consumer Hardware products, updates are available for the software that is built into ("embedded") or is necessary for the use of the device, such as firmware or drivers. Software that is installable onto a hardware device, such as the Windows Operating System running on a Surface device, follows the software support lifecycle policy.

Visit the Microsoft Security and Privacy Web site for information about Microsoft privacy policies and the latest security bulletins, virus alerts, and security downloads.

Lifecycle Frequently Asked Questions

View the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the Product Support Lifecycle policy:

• Support Lifecycle Policy
• Consumer Hardware
• Internet Explorer
• Microsoft .NET Framework
• Microsoft Azure
• Microsoft Developer Tools
• Microsoft Dynamics
• Microsoft Online Services
• Office Live Meeting Client
• Windows Embedded Handheld
• Windows Phone
• Windows Products

Microsoft Online Services Support Lifecycle Policy

For Business and Developer Online Services

Online Services afford customers new ways of implementing change in their IT environments. These changes are frequently more rapid and require customers to be alert of forthcoming modifications to their cloud-based service.

Microsoft recognizes that Online Services are inherently more dynamic and, while providing businesses with increased agility, require Support Lifecycle policies to ensure service predictability. IT organizations familiar with the standard Microsoft Support Lifecycle policies for on-premises software will see that the online policies provide the consistent and predictable Support Lifecycle experience they have come to expect from Microsoft.

For additional policy details for Microsoft Azure Cloud Services, please see Microsoft Azure Cloud Services FAQ .

Online Services Support Lifecycle Policy for Business and Developer

The Business and Developer policy for Online Services offers three key features:

Support Availability

• Microsoft Support services will be available for the duration of the customer's agreement with Microsoft for the Online Service.

Notification

• Unless otherwise noted, for all Microsoft Online Services, Microsoft will provide a minimum of 12 months prior notification before customers must accept any change that is deemed a "disruptive change".
  • For CRM Online customers, Microsoft will provide customers a 6-month notification period, except when removing support for an underlying system requirement, in which case Microsoft will follow the standard 12-month notification policy.  See Online Policy FAQs for information about the CRM Online exception (http://support.microsoft.com/gp/OsslFaq).
• "Disruptive change" means change where a customer or administrator is required to take action in order to avoid significant degradation to the normal operation of the Online Service.
• The notice period will not apply to security related changes or updates.

Service Continuity and Migration

• Microsoft will provide a minimum of 12 months prior notification before ending an Online Service for Business and Developer customers.
• Microsoft will retain customer data for a minimum of 30 days to facilitate customer migrations or renewal activities prior to the deprovisioning of the Online Service.