* Microsoft continues custom support for Windows NT through end of 2006
Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year to you all! Even Microsoft has gotten into the spirit of the season with a nice little present – at least for some of you.
According to a story by John Fontana in last week’s Network World (see editorial link below), Microsoft is extending custom support for the Windows NT platform – for a fee – beyond its scheduled ending date of Dec. 31, 2004.
NT is getting a two-year extension through the end of 2006. Redmond says this is needed by some enterprises to enable them to complete their migrations and upgrades to the latest Windows platforms (e.g., Windows Server 2003).
Microsoft defines “custom support” as, essentially, security hotfixes for vulnerabilities that are labeled as “critical” or “important.” No enhancement to the operating systems will be offered nor will non-security fixes be implemented.
These hotfixes will only be available to those purchasing support contracts for their systems, but Microsoft has again lowered the term of the agreement. While support agreements are traditionally annual contracts, Microsoft changed the term for Windows NT to six months when it first offered the custom support. Now it is again shrinking the term so you are able to purchase the support in increments of three months. That does make it more cost effective for those involved with upgrades and migrations.
The IDC consulting group reports, somewhat surprisingly, that there are still 2.3 million Windows NT servers in use today – 17% of the installed Windows server base! While this is down 27% from last year, it still represents quite a large Microsoft customer base. Many are in the midst of moving to newer systems, but there are still quite a few of you who – because of the applications you are running – are still not ready to upgrade. There are others, too, who can’t get the budget to upgrade.
Whatever your reason for running NT 4 servers on your network, it is nice that Microsoft is giving you a way to keep them secure, at least for a little bit longer.
