Technology Planning for 2005 - Support Lifecycles

As the new year opens, business planning for the new year is ramping up. Part of that planning involves looking at the technology assets and their management. This view from the foredeck is focused on summarizing the support lifecycles for various Microsoft operating systems.

Windows 98/98SE/ME: Support for these operating systems was extended from January 16, 2004 to June 30, 2006. This means that Microsoft will continue to publish critical security updates for these three operating systems via Windows Update - see details at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifean1. Our recommendation is that planning should begin in earnest to upgrade PC's during 2005 that are still using Windows 98/98SE/ME. In most cases, this upgrade will involve a hardware replacement in order to meet the requirements of Windows XP Professional.

Windows NT Server and Workstation: Support for both of these operating systems ended on December 31, 2004 and June 30, 2004 - http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=gp%2flifean3 and http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=gp%2flifean5. Any remaining Windows NT installations should be retired/replaced as soon as possible.

Windows 2000 Professional and Server: Mainstream support for both of these operating systems will be ending on June 30, 2005. This signals the beginning of extended support for both of these operating systems which will end on June 30, 2010. Microsoft will continue to publish critical security updates during the extended support phase. Our recommendation is that planning should begin over the next two years to upgrade PC's and servers that are using Windows 2000 products.

One of the services Superior Endeavors, Inc. provides is technology consulting and planning. We can work with your staff to integrate business planning and strategy with technology planning and strategy.