As you probably know, Windows Server 2003 has (finally) reach its end-of-life. For the Windows 2003 Server family the critical dates were the following:
- On July 13, 2010 Mainstream Support for Windows Server 2003 family ended.
- On July 14, 2015 Extended Support for Windows Server 2003 family will end.
So one year after the Microsoft Windows XP (and Office 2003) retirement, now it’s the turn of the Windows Server 2003 (and of course the R2 version) operating system family, after 12 years!
Microsoft’s exact cut-off date for supporting Windows Server 2003 is July 14, 2015, which will focus administrators minds on updating any remaining machines running the operating system for servers or to move a workload to the cloud.
Also next year will be the year of Windows Server 2016 (with a lot of new features) making the gap of releases really huge (5 different releases after Windows Server 2003 R2!).
But actually the change has already been driven by the application layer: most of applications require a 64 bit OS and serveral of them have removed the Windows Server 2003 support. So it’s already done the migration? Not really!
Microsoft has estimated that there may be between as many as 20 million copies of Windows Server 2003 are still running (and still there are some Windows XP!). With the obvious security risks and a real need of a upgrade (or, in a more realistic way, a refresh and migration) plan.
On the client side, next involved operating systems will be:
| Client operating systems | Latest update or service pack | End of mainstream support | End of extended support |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Windows XP |
April 14, 2009 |
||
|
Windows Vista |
April 10, 2012 |
April 11, 2017 |
|
|
Windows 7 |
January 13, 2015 |
January 14, 2020 |
|
|
Windows 8 |
January 9, 2018 |
January 10, 2023 |
For the server operating systems:
| Server operating systems | Latest update or service pack | End of mainstream support | End of extended support |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Windows Server 2003 |
July 13, 2010 |
July 14, 2015 |
|
|
Windows Server 2003 R2 |
April 10, 2012 |
April 11, 2017 |
|
|
Windows Server 2008 |
January 13, 2015 |
January 14, 2020 |
|
|
Windows Server 2008 R2 |
January 13, 2015 |
January 14, 2020 |
|
|
Windows Server 2012 |
January 9, 2018 |
January 10, 2023 |
|
|
Windows Server 2012 R2 |
January 9, 2018 |
January 10, 2023 |
See also:
- Official Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy FAQ
- Windows Server 2003 end is closer than you’d think
- Windows Server 2003 Rapidly Approaches End-Of-Life, Watch Out For Performance Bottlenecks
- Clock ticking on Windows Server 2003 extended support timeline
- Veeam and the End of Windows Server 2003 Support
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Andrea Mauro
Virtualization, Cloud and Storage Architect. Tech Field delegate. VMUG IT Co-Founder and board member. VMware VMTN Moderator and vExpert 2010-24. Dell TechCenter Rockstar 2014-15. Microsoft MVP 2014-16. Veeam Vanguard 2015-23. Nutanix NTC 2014-20. Several certifications including: VCDX-DCV, VCP-DCV/DT/Cloud, VCAP-DCA/DCD/CIA/CID/DTA/DTD, MCSA, MCSE, MCITP, CCA, NPP.
