Microsoft puts hand on Office XP plug, ready to pull
Microsoft today reminded customers that it will pull the support plug for the aged Office XP in July. Office XP, which launched nearly 10 years ago, will exit support July 12, that month's Patch Tuesday. The date will be the last time Microsoft issues security updates for the suite.
Microsoft regularly warns users of impending end-of-support dates. Last year, for example, it mentioned the July 2010 end to Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) support on several consecutive months.
The company supports its business products for 10 years, the first five in what it calls "mainstream support," and the second five in "extended support." The biggest difference between the two phases is that in the latter, non-security fixes are provided only to companies that have signed support contracts with Microsoft.
