Microsoft says that support of an earlier Service Pack may be extended to 24 months if it is determined that customers need additional time for testing and deployment. When Windows XP Embedded SP2 was released in
December of 2004, Microsoft promised two years of support for SP1. That two-year commitment has thus been extended by four months.
In June of 2004, Microsoft unveiled an "
expanded and enhanced" product lifecycle policy that guaranteed 10 years of support -- five years of "mainstream support," plus five years of "extended support" -- for Windows XP Embedded, from the time of its initial release in January of 2002.
The extended support phase discontinues the bundled support that is normally included with licensing, as well as other no-charge support programs, according to Microsoft. Additionally, the company no longer accepts requests for design or feature changes to the product during the extended support phase.
Further details on Microsoft's Service Pack support policy are available
here.
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