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Microsoft overhauls product support guidelines
”Exchange Server 5.5 is the first product to be affected by today’s change, which will be effective across all Microsoft products, Vargas says.
"As part of our ongoing effort to improve the Microsoft Support Lifecycle program, we’re going to review all of our products over the quarter to make all of those date changes," she says, "and we’re going to implement the new support dates for all of our products."”
This is primarily aimed at businesses making use of their server software, such as Exchange and server versions of Windows. To many businesses, this is good news – they can continue to operate their systems for several more years without the risk of losing support. This can also be a double-edged sword, however, because some businesses may be inclined to not seek upgrades or migrations to newer software. The extra 3 years of support is paid, however.
User Comments: 19
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As if microsoft wasn't already making money hand over fist, they find another way to squeeze even more money out of their valued customers.
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[b]Originally posted by iluvnug:[/b][quote]As if microsoft wasn't already making money hand over fist, they find another way to squeeze even more money out of their valued customers. [/quote]Don't you think you're being a little hard on them? I think this new policy is fantastic news, many small buisnesses that simply can't afford to upgrade can now pay for continuing support on their aging products. Also it helps in the public sector! Businesses that don't recieve the neccessary funding to overhaul their systems to support the latest and greatest can continue to operate on a much smaller budget without sacrificing the services that they provide.I may very well be wrong about this, but I don't think that too many companies would continue to support a software product a full ten years after its been released. In fact, I don't know of a single one that can claim that... Again, I'm more then willing to be proven wrong, I'm no MS fanboi, but I'm a fan of credit where credit is due.
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I agree with Cartz. What it depends on is what the pricing of the extended service. But this also means that if there is a demand, microsoft can delegate resources to support that product.. and if there isnt Microsoft can then focus toward other products or newer technologies.In the long run the general overall picture of Microsofts support will probably improve due to this. Its a more defined structure and will allow for better organization and management of support staff. How beneficial it will be to us users remains to be decided by the price.
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[b]Originally posted by asphix:[/b][quote]How beneficial it will be to us users remains to be decided by the price.[/quote]And on the quality of their support staff, I'm a bit of a skeptic, and I don't think that they're going to throw their best support people into the 'Windows 98SE Support Team'. Even if the initial support is miserable, at least it could eventually get escalated to someone who knows what they're talking about. I suppose only time will tell whether this is a move to appease and please their customers, or a PR stunt meant to generate some good press in lieu of all the vulnerabilities exposed in the last few weeks.
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No I am not being too hard. There are many companies that offer support on products past 5 years. And Microsoft can afford it.
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I think the simplification of the whole thing (5 + 5) is the best part of it all......now people know exactly what to expect for all pieces of M$ software from a support angle. The whole headache of keeping up with "retired" packages is a nightmare from a tech side...
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On one hand it's great that Microsoft is extending the services and support, but I question the effectiveness of the support itself. I've been fortunate to have had the pleasure of calling Microsoft. For the most part, their support was no better than Dell's customer support. And believe me, that's not a good thing. Perhaps Microsoft's support team is more eager and knowledgeable if the caller is from a respected company/industry seeing that I interned in a rather small business. But when I contacted their support, they (as in I was transferred to 3+ people) were just reading off of a script.But if one manages to get someone who is actually knowledgeable, the extended support is great. And I certainly won't generalize my bad experience and project it to all of Microsoft's support team.
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[b]Originally posted by Cartz:[/b][quote][b]Originally posted by asphix:[/b][quote]How beneficial it will be to us users remains to be decided by the price.[/quote]And on the quality of their support staff, I'm a bit of a skeptic, and I don't think that they're going to throw their best support people into the 'Windows 98SE Support Team'. Even if the initial support is miserable, at least it could eventually get escalated to someone who knows what they're talking about. [/quote]But if there are a lot of people still paying for support in win98SE then their support staff would be better or at least reflect the demand.At least thats how it would be in an ideal world.... in all reality in an ideal world no one would be using 98SE..
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[b]Originally posted by asphix:[/b][quote][b]Originally posted by Cartz:[/b][quote][b]Originally posted by asphix:[/b][quote]How beneficial it will be to us users remains to be decided by the price.[/quote]And on the quality of their support staff, I'm a bit of a skeptic, and I don't think that they're going to throw their best support people into the 'Windows 98SE Support Team'. Even if the initial support is miserable, at least it could eventually get escalated to someone who knows what they're talking about. [/quote]But if there are a lot of people still paying for support in win98SE then their support staff would be better or at least reflect the demand.At least thats how it would be in an ideal world.... in all reality in an ideal world no one would be using 98SE..[/quote]I suppose it would allow them to target their tech support as well..."We're getting $x from Win98SE support fees, so we can devote y number of employees to that support team. And since we're only getting $y from exchange 5.5 we can take the employees from that team and transfer them over to 98SE"Seems like it could be a breeze to manage the system too. All in all, not a terrible move by Microsoft.
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[b]Originally posted by iluvnug:[/b][quote]No I am not being too hard. There are many companies that offer support on products past 5 years. And Microsoft can afford it. [/quote]5 Years of 'mainstream' support followed by 5 years of paid support... I don't know of a company which offers that kind of support package. Most companies I'm familiar with issue a few patches within a year or two and then all mention of their product disappears from the website.Of course, Your mileage may vary
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Does this mean i will see several new patches for windows 98se? hahaah. Of course the downside to longer support and not forcing people tp upgrade is users will be sticking to old and unsecure flavors of windows. Could result in more crahses and downtime.
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They still support Win2k but not 98SE which was released at the same time... Also ME is newer than 2k but was not supported anymore either.
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[b]Originally posted by DragonMaster:[/b][quote]They still support Win2k but not 98SE which was released at the same time... Also ME is newer than 2k but was not supported anymore either.[/quote]They probably realize how much ME sucked and are trying to erase any shred of memory of it from our collective consciousness.
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Well, I was wondering why not just give it lifetime support? that would be better than giving it a 5 year cycle. Only a select few, will purchase old operating systems anyway, so I guess there is not really a use for it, in a sense. But still, I think it should still be available for a lifetime policy.
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[b]Originally posted by yoyomama:[/b][quote][b]Originally posted by DragonMaster:[/b][quote]They still support Win2k but not 98SE which was released at the same time... Also ME is newer than 2k but was not supported anymore either.[/quote]They probably realize how much ME sucked and are trying to erase any shred of memory of it from our collective consciousness.[/quote]With that reasoning I wouldn't have any memory of Microsoft left
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I wonder how much time will they support Windows XP after the release of Windows Vista?
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[b]Originally posted by MonkeyMan:[/b][quote]Well, I was wondering why not just give it lifetime support? that would be better than giving it a 5 year cycle. Only a select few, will purchase old operating systems anyway, so I guess there is not really a use for it, in a sense. But still, I think it should still be available for a lifetime policy.[/quote]If Windows 98SE has lifetime support with no/little charge, no one would buy windows xp and vista, and Microsoft would lose a great deal of money. This 5+5 year support is just a move to patch their reputation, and to rake more money from us at the same time. Clever...Btw, maybe it will be cheaper (and less frustrating) to buy the newest model and get the free support, than stick with the old one and pay for the support.
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I also concur with Cartz.......this is, for the most part, positive news, and users should cut MS a bit of slack.Speaking of Microsoft support.....I've had very good experiences with them. For example, I've owned XP since it's release, and even now, when I have a problem I can't solve, I've sent them emails requesting help. I've gotten a callback within 24 hours from a live support tech, who has been very helpful. On a recent occasion, the guy, who incidently, was located in Nova Scotia, of all places, spent almost 2 hours on the phone with me, sent me a special patch not available on-line, and even called back a few days later to confirm there were no further problems. This was all free support.Oh yeah......the subject of ME came up, and he freely offered his opinion, saying ME should probably have never been released.
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[b]Originally posted by zachig:[/b][quote]I wonder how much time will they support Windows XP after the release of Windows Vista?[/quote]I estimate about 3 years. BEcause Vista is a huge leap and they're putting all their eggs in the basket called Vista.
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