Microsoft Support Lifecycle Service Pack Support Policy Revisions

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Microsoft is pleased to announce revisions to the Service Pack Support policy that will provide customers with continued troubleshooting support for unsupported service pack versions.

Policy background

Under the former policy, when a service pack reached the end of support customers were no longer eligible to receive troubleshooting help from Microsoft Customer Service and Support, including assisted telephone support, security updates, or non-security hot fixes. Customers requiring assistance from Microsoft had to upgrade to a supported service pack, to be eligible for any support.

Service Pack Support policy revisions

Effective April 13, 2010, the Service Pack Support policy will be revised to provide customers with limited troubleshooting on unsupported service pack versions. The new Service Pack Support policy enables customers to obtain support as follows:

1. Limited break/fix support incidents will be provided through Microsoft Customer Service and Support; and through Microsoft’s managed support offerings (such as Premier Support).
2. There will be no option to engage Microsoft’s product development resources, and technical workarounds may be limited or not possible.
3. If the support incident requires escalation to development for further guidance, requires a hotfix, or requires a security update, customers will be asked to upgrade to a supported service pack.

These changes will provide additional support options and flexibility for customers who have not completed migration to a supported service pack. Customers are highly encouraged to stay on a supported service pack to ensure they are on the latest and most secure version of their product.

The Microsoft Support Lifecycle (MSL) policy provides transparent, predictable information regarding the support lifecycle of Microsoft products. More information is available on the MSL Web site http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle.