The imminent demise of Windows XP isn’t the only current example of an old piece of Microsoft software that’s about to hit the scrapheap. Office 2003, Windows Server 2003, Exchange Server 2003 and SQL Server 2008 are also about to lose support.
Picture: Wikimedia Commons
Forrester Research’s Mark Batrick reminds us that the 2003 editions of Office and Exchange go off extended support on 8 April 2014 (the same date as Windows XP), while SQL Server 2008 will enter extended support after July 8 this year respectively. Windows Server 2003 has a slightly longer expiry period, with support ending on 14 July 2015.
I suspect the most likely of these products to still be in widespread use is Office 2003, since that was the last version of Office that didn’t include the Ribbon interface. That said, it’s not unknown for single purpose servers to continue in unpatched mode for many years.
Which old versions you have in use, Batrick’s advice makes sense here: “If you are planning to continue running these old orphans, then make sure you protect them behind strong firewalls or even disconnect them from your network or the internet.”
Microsoft Licensing Update [Forrester Blogs]
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