Death Comes in Threes: Windows XP, Office 2003, Exchange 2003

Superstition? Maybe. But, play along anyway.

How many times have you heard the phrase "death comes in threes"? I've heard it all my life, and for some odd reason it seems to hold true. Of course, the phrase could come from my Southern roots and not obvious to everyone. The old South has many superstitious beliefs I've tried to shed since I was actually born and raised in the Ohio valley but my parents hail from the Southern bits. Still it creeps in every once in a while. The border between North and South (Ohio and Kentucky) is extremely close. They keep creeping across the border, we keep throwing them back.

We've talked a LOT about Windows XP's end of life coming on April 8, 2014. Personally, I've written about it almost bi-weekly for the last few months. I know many of you will be happy when you no longer have to hear about it anymore.

That's one.

We've also talked about, however briefly, that Office 2003 also shares the same expiration date as Windows XP. Office 2003 doesn't get the same fanfare and importance as Windows XP does, for obvious reasons. Eventually, Office 2003 document formats will just stop working and won't be able to be read by any modern application, but it won't suffer the same security woes that Windows XP represents.

So, that's two.

Now, here's the one I think most people are overlooking. On April 8, 2014, the same day we bid farewell to Windows XP and Office 2003, Exchange 2003 also takes the great leap into the fiery abyss. Yep, it's true. According to the Lifecycle report, extended support for Exchange 2003 (Enterprise and Standard) takes a turn for the worse. Exchange will EXpire. Microsoft has a put a post up today outlining the options for Exchange 2003 users, including links to migration toolkits. Migrating to Exchange 2013 is actually a two-step process, but users can migrate to Exchange 2007 and hang out there for a brief period (extended support ends in 2017). Or, for those interested, Exchange Online offers a single-step, on-premises to Cloud migration.

That's three.

Scary ain't it?