Windows Vista Ultimate has barely hit the shelves and already the countdown has begun toward the end of its life. And it is going to be a short life judging from the Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy. Windows Vista Ultimate is designed as the high-end operating system out of the Vista series, delivering the top user experience. However, the life of such an experience is limited in comparison to other operating systems from the Redmond Company.

Windows Vista Ultimate has debuted its commercial availability on January 30, 2007. The Ultimate operating system is available for no less than $399, and is as such the most expensive version of Windows Vista. However, Microsoft will not support Ultimate for all your money's worth. And in fact Windows Vista Ultimate will be killed on April 10, 2012.

According to the Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy, Windows Vista Ultimate will benefit only from a period of 5 years of support. In 2012, the Redmond Company will retire mainstream support for Ultimate.

Usually, this is the period when, although mainstream support is no longer available, the product enters the extended support phase. But not Windows Vista Ultimate. In the Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy, under Extended Support for Windows Vista Ultimate, writes Not Applicable.

However, there are two issues that also deserve mentioning. One is that, with Vista Ultimate, Microsoft might repeat the life extension it has awarded Windows XP Home and Windows XP media Center Edition at the end of January 2007. Now, Windows XP is supported until 2014, which is to say, it will outlive Windows Vista Ultimate.

The second aspect is related to the service pack availability and support. The first service pack for Windows Vista is expected towards the end of this year. And undoubtedly, Windows Vista SP1 will deliver changes to the Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy.