The lifecycle of a Microsoft product begins with its introduction and ends with software retirement. During this period, Microsoft makes the software program available for retail sale and volume licensing, and provides support in the form of product updates, training and information, security enhancements, and patches and service packs to eliminate errors and fix program "bugs." While specific software programs may include specific lifecycle guidelines, Microsoft created a general policy you can use to understand what occurs during the product lifecycle.
Identification
Microsoft wrote their product lifecycle policy in October 2002 to cover products currently available as well as all future product releases. Lifecycle product categories include the Consumer, Hardware, and Multimedia category, the Business and Development category, and an additional category for software Microsoft updates annually such as Microsoft Money and Encarta. Basic lifecycle support depends on the category and consists of five years of product support for the Consumer category, ten years of support for the Business category and three years for the annual update category.
Considerations
Once a Microsoft product reaches the end of its lifecycle and mainstream and extended support (when applicable) ends, the product becomes an "unsupported" version. As technology advances and data security becomes an increasingly important issue, running "unsupported" software can be risky. Microsoft recommends reviewing product lifecycle documentation on a regular basis and upgrading software applications, and operating system to a new version to ensure your computer remains safe and eligible for updates and security enhancements.
Security Updates
While a long-term Microsoft goal is to release software not vulnerable to security issues, security enhancements and upgrades remain a regular occurrence over the lifecycle of a Microsoft product. When a security-related issue occurs, Microsoft deals with it in a general way by including a security fix in the next Service Pack release, or by issuing security "patches" if the issue is serious enough to warrant an immediate fix.
Product Support
Depending on the product, support consists of one or two phases that include Mainstream Support and Extended Support. Consumer and annual update products receive only Mainstream support, while Business products receive both Mainstream and Extended support, each five years in length. Mainstream support is the initial phase and includes complete product support, such as design and features enhancements, security updates, a variety of no-charge support options, and fee-based technical support. In addition, Microsoft provides access via their website to free training, articles and product information. Extended support includes fee-based technical support and security updates.
Service Pack Support
Microsoft handles issues such as errors that cause programs to crash or refuse to open, or enhancements that can help the program run more efficiently by packaging and distributing Service Packs at various intervals during the product lifecycle. Each new Service Pack builds on a previous one, so users do not have to download and install all Service Packs to address an issue covered in an early Service Pack release when purchasing a new computer or software program. Regardless, Microsoft provides support for legacy operating system Service Packs for 24 months and all other software programs for 12 months.
Source: eHow.com
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