14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Server 2003 is the second Windows version that reaches end of support in one year and a half, after Windows XP in April 2014, and Microsoft appears to be really keen on pulling the plug on this version right on time, with no additional extensions.
Vasily Malanin, Microsoft's Asia-Pacific data center product management lead for cloud and enterprise, has explained that Microsoft has absolutely no intention to extend Windows Server 2003 support, urging all customers still running this particular OS version to upgrade as soon as possible.
Microsoft will pull the plug on Windows Server 2003 support in less than 100 days, so businesses and organizations who are yet to upgrade are quickly running out of time, the company warns.
Malanin has admitted in a press conference in Singapore that Microsoft indeed received request from customers to extend Windows Server 2003 support, but that’s not going to happen this time, he says.
"We had feedback from some customers who were expecting a similar legacy that we had with Windows XP, [but] I need to emphasize there's no plan to extend support [beyond the July 14 deadline]," he is quoted as saying by ZDNet.
It already made this mistake
Extending support for a specific Windows version wouldn’t be a new thing for Microsoft, as the company already did that with Windows XP. Microsoft announced in 2007 the extension of Windows XP support until April 8, 2014, thus planning to give customers more time to prepare the upgrades to newer OS version.
What it happened next, however, was pretty unexpected, as many customers decided to stick to Windows XP for longer than predicted, making it impossible to discontinue the aging OS.
This in turn had an impact on the market share of new OS versions, such as Windows 8, as many preferred to remain on Windows XP without the need to upgrade their hardware.
This time, the company won’t do the same thing, so businesses and organizations that are still on Windows Server 2003 should work at full speed to upgrade before the July 14 deadline.