End of Support for Windows Vista RTM and Recent Service Pack Support Policy Updates

I mentioned the end of support for Windows Vista RTM (i.e. the pre-Service Pack 1 version) in this week's Mailbag , but if you missed it, here's the news from Microsoft, along with some information about changes the company is making to its Service Pack Support policy. Today, Windows Vista RTM has reached end of support.  End of support means that customers can no longer receive support benefits from Microsoft and will need to upgrade to a supported service pack (Windows Vista SP1 or Windows Vista SP2) to continue receiving security updates, hotfixes or assisted support from Microsoft. In addition to the end of support, Microsoft also announced changes to the Service Pack Support policy.  The revised policy allows Microsoft support professionals to make best effort to provide limited break/fix troubleshooting to customers on unsupported service packs, even without custom support contracts, and help them migrate to a supported service pack. Microsoft requires customers to transition to a supported service packs to receive hotfixes, security updates, time zone updates, or access to sustained engineering. Customers are highly encouraged to migrate to the latest supported service pack which is the latest and most secure version of their product.  Staying on a supported service pack is the only way to ensure continued access to security updates and the ability to escalate support issues within Microsoft. Additional information is available on the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Blog .