Mainstream Support for Office 2003 and Windows XP Ends

Although Windows XP and Office 2003 extended support only ends in 2014, meaning that Microsoft is going to release critical security fixes until then, its mainstream support of XP and Office 2003 ends today, on 14/04/2009. Non-security related problems with both softwares are only being fixed by paying Microsoft through an extended support contract. The free live support and warranty support ends today, while the free maintenance gets limited to security fixes.

The Microsoft Support Lifecycle (MSL) policy states that: "Extended Support includes paid support (support that is charged on an hourly basis or per incident), security update support at no additional cost, and paid hotfix support. To receive hotfix support, an Extended Hotfix Support contract must be purchased within the first 90 days following the end of the Mainstream Support phase. Microsoft will not accept requests for warranty support, design changes, or new features during the Extended Support phase."