Microsoft wants you to plan a new generation of legacy systems Microsoft last year promised a new “Premium Assurance” product to provide security updates for Windows Server and SQL Server for an additional six years. And now it's delivered: Premium Assurance went on sale as of last week with incentives to cough up sooner rather than later. Redmond's support arrangements typically see it …
"Could this be a sign of market weakness that Slurp is scrounging for some money now figuring its not likely to get much in the future?"
And if it spends the money now who's going to support the product so far into the future? If I were spending this I'd want to see the escrow arrangements for all that code.
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In the UK at least, you're taught never to pay Window Cleaners in advance to sort out dirty Windows. Same should apply to Microsoft.
Things change. You have to ask yourself, could you have predicted the software mix / hardware mix, ratios in use today - 6 years in advance? The Window locks are bad enough already.
Either they have woken up to the fact that customer dictate their refresh cycles, or it's another strong sign that Microsoft have realised that they are dying out as nobody is willingly buying their product any more, so they are looking for new opportunities to screw their customers
Is that this service is very likely mostly going to be used by governments. You know: those big overseeing agencies which are all too eager to scoop up your taxes because they need their money income. Desperately. For example to sustain their XP machines for yet another few years (I'm not joking here; it has become well known that areas within the Dutch government still operate with Windows XP).
For factories with PC controlled equipment, this could be very wothwhile. No one wants to throw out a half million quid piece of equipment because its controlling PC is running an obsolete OS. Many factories have W98 PCs running standalone machines which is acceptable if they are not networked. Modern equipment however is designed to be networked so long term support is highly desired.
Well done. A thoughtful and intelligent comment instead of the all too usual anti-Redmond hateboi auto-howling. It is precisely in that area where that type of "insurance" is in fact worthwhile. In one of our laboratories we had (it has now after many many years loyal service gone to the great scrapyard in the sky) a high pressure liquid chromatography rig that would have cost an arm and a leg to replace, was still doing sterling service and did not need networking. As a result it ran with Win2k Pro (I kid you not) for its entire service. However, our new one needs networking and the extra 6 years support would be highly worthwhile. There is an significant area (as you point out) where keeping the OS going for an extra 6 years would in fact be a significant advantage. Although of course in other circumstances that would not be the case.
@Arctic Fox
I understand completely. I just a few weeks ago loaded two new/referb PCs with Win XP for the wife. Both were for their HPLCs. Their software won't work on Windows 7 or above due to special hardware and drivers. Both HPLCs work totally fine, and would be over $80K each to replace.
Both are networked to be able to print to network printers and to offload data, but they were told not to browse the internet from these PCs. Not much of a problem since they only have IE6, and most of the internet in inaccessible anyway.
They also have several GC/MS's that are XP only. They are in the neighborhood of $120K each to replace. Many of these device live on for decades past the end of support for their Windows OS. It's too bad all of the instrument manufacturers don't make a Linux version of the software. It would be easier to support.
A very valid point, but often you get in to a situation where you can't get drivers for the old OS to run new hardware (that happens in every OS by the way).
Problem here is it looks to be security updates only, so unless MS pressure the OEMs to support an older OS' HAL for new hardware, you don't get the advantage of an easy fix for failed hardware. I still use W2K in a VM for some old (and expensive) CAD software to get round this, but I have the luxury of not needing special HW drivers, so the VM delivers never-dying hardware.
But for any such restricted use, you really, REALLY, want to keep them of t'Internet. Privative VLANs only and damn few user's PC/phones/IoT-shit/etc on them...
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