Microsoft Windows End of Service Information

Stations and clusters using Microsoft Windows might want to check around the facility to make sure which versions of Windows are in use.

Starting in April, several versions of the operating system will no longer receive support from Microsoft.

While this may not be of major interest for computers that are not on a network and are running well, those older units that do connect to the LAN or Internet will not receive security updates from Windows Update.

If your shop has any of these Windows versions in use, this would be a good time to make sure you have the most recent security patches before the end date.

The versions that will fall off the update train are:

• Windows Vista RTM (original with no Service Packs (SP))
  Support ends April 13th.
• Windows XP SP2, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2000
  Support ends July 13th.

For those of you running Windows XP with SP3 - that will still be supported. This means that if you are running XP with SP2, this might be a very good time to install SP3 if you plan to use the computer for any LAN or Internet activity.

Additionally, on July 13th, Windows Server 2003 will change from what MS calls "Mainstream Support" to "Extended Support" - which essentially means the end of no-charge incident response, warranty coverage, and design changes and feature requests.

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