Windows XP SP3 released! What does that mean for the Support Lifecycle of XP?
Many of you probably saw last week’s announcement regarding the release of Windows XP Service Pack 3.  This release has prompted a number of questions from customers regarding the impact it has to the Support Lifecycle for Windows XP Microsoft MCTS Training.   So, let me try to explain…

You may recall from previous postings that support for Business & Developer products is provided for a minimum of 10 years (5 years in the Mainstream Support phase phase and 5 years in the Extended Support phase).  These dates may be extended, if a follow-on product release is delayed.  This rule only applies for new product versions and not to new service packs.  The release of a new service pack does not impact the Support Lifecycle of the product.

However, a new service pack release does impact the end of support for the previous service pack.  In the service pack policy posting, we discussed how support for a previous service pack will either be 12 or 24 months from the release of a new service pack version.

So, with the release of XP SP3, we begin the end of support clock for XP SP2.  Since the Windows product family provides 24 months of support for the previous service pack, this would mean that XP SP2 will end 24 months following the release of SP3.  Windows XP Service Pack 2 will end on July 13, 2010.  These support dates can be found on the Support Lifecycle website Microsoft MCITP Certification.