Exchange 2003 Support comes to an end

With all the buzz going on about end-of-support for Windows XP (April 8, 2014) I suddenly realized there are more Operating Systems and (Server Applications) that are about to hit the end-of-support date.

Exchange 2003

On this side of the pond a lot of customers are still running Exchange 2003. Exchange 2003 Extended support will end on April 8, 2014 as well, just like Windows XP. This means that from this date on Exchange 2003 is no longer supported, and (critical) security fixes will not be released by Microsoft. The product won’t stop working, but personally I think the time is right to start working on an upgrade.

Please note there’s no direct upgrade path from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2013. The only direct upgrade path is to Exchange 2007 (wouldn’t invest there either) or to Exchange 2010. If you’re planning to follow this path check my Upgrade Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010 article on Simple-Talk: http://bit.ly/2010To2013 . Another option of course is to move to Office 365 or course.

Windows 2003 (and R2)

Windows 2003 (and R2) was often used to install Exchange 2003. Extended support for Windows Server 2003 ends on July 14, 2015 so there’s a little more than a year left if you’re running this Operating System.

Exchange 2007

Exchange 2007 was released on March 8, 2007. Extended support for Exchange 2007 will end on April 11, 2017. Three years to go…. If you’re running Exchange 2007 it might be a good idea to start working towards a migration to Exchange 2013 (there’s a direct migration path) or to Office 365.