14 DAY TRIAL // By the end of 2007 Microsoft will cut the lifeline on several of its products including: Windows Server 2003 SP, Windows XP Embedded SP1, Visual Studio .Net 2002, SQL Server 2000 SP3a and Great Plains 8.0. All the Microsoft products mentioned above will transition to either non-supported or extended support status throughout 2007.
Visual Studio .NET 2002 is in fact the only product that will transition from Mainstream Support to Extended Support as of July 10, 2007. Great Plains 7.5 - January 9, 2007, Great Plains 8.0 and 8.0 Standard - October 9, 2007, Exchange Server 2003 SP1 - January 9, 2007, Windows Server 2003 SP0 (RTM) - April 10, 2007, Windows XP Embedded SP1 - April 10, 2007, SUS 1.0 and SUS 1.0 SP1 - July 10, 2007 and SQL Server 2000 SP3a - July 10, 2007 will no longer be supported beyond the dates adjacent to them.
And for the following products, Microsoft has announced extended support: Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2, Exchange Server 2003 SP1 - extended until January 8, 2008, Exchange Server 2003 - April 14, 2009 and Windows XP - April 14, 2009.
As part of the Microsoft support lifecycle update for April 2007, the company has revamped the way it is managing support for the same product family via a common timeline. "Moving forward, Microsoft products will be classified as either major or minor products. Minor products will take on the support timeline of the major product, while major products will always restart the Microsoft Support Lifecycle clock," Microsoft revealed.
Additionally, the Redmond Company has also refreshed the security update download process. "With the clarification to the Security Update Download process, the Extended Support phase has been modified to include Microsoft Security Updates via Microsoft Update for the full five years of Extended Support. Due to technical limitations in Microsoft Office 2000, updates for customers will not be available via Microsoft Update, which will remain an exception to this updated policy," stated Microsoft.