Article ID: 905682 - Last Review: May 19, 2008 - Revision: 5.2

Support life cycle for Microsoft Software Update Services 1.0

Microsoft will discontinue support for Software Update Services (SUS) 1.0 on Tuesday, July 10, 2007. Product support and update content availability for SUS 1.0 will no longer be available after that date.

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 2.0 is the successor to SUS 1.0. WSUS 2.0 supports updating a broader set of Microsoft products and provides robust management and reporting features. To download WSUS 2.0, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/wsus/bb466193.aspx (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/wsus/bb466193.aspx)

Additionally, WSUS 3.0 is now available. However, SUS 1.0 cannot be upgraded or migrated to WSUS 3.0. Migration from SUS 1.0 to WSUS 2.0 is supported. A full in-place upgrade is supported from WSUS 2.0 to WSUS 3.0. You must uninstall Software Update Services 1.0 before you install WSUS 3.0. To download WSUS 3.1, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=F87B4C5E-4161-48AF-9FF8-A96993C688DF&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=F87B4C5E-4161-48AF-9FF8-A96993C688DF&displaylang=en)

MORE INFORMATION

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) is the next version of Software Update Services (SUS). WSUS builds on the features of SUS by providing the following:

More detailed and more flexible update management
- The ability to target updates to specific computers or to specific computer groups
- Scanning capabilities that let you validate system update status and validate need
- Reporting
- The ability to store content either on the WSUS server or on Microsoft Update
  
  Note Approvals are only available when you use WSUS.
- Flexible client control of check-in frequency, download options, and installation behavior
- A full-featured user interface that includes multiple views and detailed update information
Increased network and bandwidth efficiency
- Smart download: Updates are not downloaded from Microsoft Update until they are approved
- Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) 2.0 for throttled bandwidth consumption when you download updates and synchronize servers
- Smaller Xpress package support to reduce network bandwidth consumption
- Support for exporting or importing updates across disconnected and remote servers
Increased deployment ease and extensibility
- Flexible deployment options
- Flexible database options
- Extensibility through the API and through samples
- Migration support and tools to help upgrade from SUS 1.0 to WSUS
- Extensive deployment and operation documentation that is dynamically updated over time

Microsoft has created a WSUS upgrade path for existing SUS customers. This includes a step-by-step guide. To obtain this guide, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=150E795E-AE32-4D47-A6B8-E01F918AAE93&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=150E795E-AE32-4D47-A6B8-E01F918AAE93&displaylang=en)

When you install WSUS, the WSUSutil.exe utility is also installed. WSUSutil.exe helps you migrate SUS content and approvals to WSUS.

For more information about WSUS, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/wsus/default.aspx (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/wsus/default.aspx)