Microsoft is to limit support for three
versions of Windows Vista, including its most
expensive, to five years rather than the usual
10 years.
The company defended the difference by noting
that the clock just started ticking. "End of
life-cycle support for Windows Vista is still
five years out," a spokesperson said.
However, the software maker left the door
ajar. "As we've done in the past, Microsoft will
continue to evaluate the support life cycle for
Windows Vista and make decisions about extending
support if and when it is necessary," the
spokesperson added.
Although the corporate editions of Vista -
Business and Enterprise - will be supported for
the usual '5 + 5' span that includes five years
of what Microsoft calls 'mainstream' support and
another five of ‘extended’ support, the consumer
versions currently have an end date of April 10,
2012. Vista Home Basic, Home Premium and
Ultimate will stop receiving updates, even
critical security updates, after that. Ultimate,
which retails for £313 (£205 for an upgrade) on
Amazon.co.uk, is the priciest Vista edition, and
is touted by Microsoft in its marketing
materials as offering "all of the features found
in Windows Vista Home Premium [and] also all of
the features found in Windows Vista Business”.
Vista Business and Vista Enterprise users
will receive security updates into 2017.
The decision to cut off consumer Vista
support after five years seems odd in light of a
January move by Microsoft that added extended
support to Windows XP Home and XP Media Center.
Windows XP Home and XP Media Center, which were
scheduled to drop off the support chart in
mid-April 2009, were given an extension to April
2014.
At the time, Ines Vargas, Microsoft's
director of support policy, said the decision
had been made in part because the company
recognised that consumers were keeping their
computers for longer lengths of time.
Microsoft explained its reason for extending
XP while keeping Vista at five years.
"Microsoft's decision to provide an extended
support phase for Windows XP Home and Windows XP
Media Center was limited to those specific
versions of the OS," the spokesperson said.
"Given that Windows Vista recently became
available to consumers, it is premature to make
any decisions about an extension of consumer
support at this time."
Michael Cherry, an analyst at Directions on
Microsoft, said he knows why Microsoft is, at
least for now, holding the Vista line at five
years. "Because they're optimists, they think
they will have Vista's replacement out in time
to beat that deadline," Cherry said.
Likewise, the decision to extend XP support
was taken for more reasons than keeping
customers happy, Cherry added. "Microsoft was so
late in getting Vista out, that there was a
danger of XP falling off support within a very
short time."
