[Discussion] [OT: (Part 4 of 3) Windows Versions and End of Support

Tue Apr 6 05:36:10 PDT 2010

Dear POSSI et Al.:

I was doing - did - a little research on end-of-support dates and 'came across' some 'official' version info. I thought, considering some of the discussions we've had, some of you might be interested.

Windows 2000 End-of-Support Solution Center
http://support.microsoft.com/ph/7274#tab0

 Support for Windows 2000 ends on July 13, 2010! 

http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?mkt=en-US&q=windows2000+updates&FORM=MSSBCUS
A Search for Windows 2000 Updates and their Availability 

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Support is ending for some versions of Windows 
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/help/end-support-windows-xp-sp2-windows-vista-without-service-packs?os=other

Support for Windows Vista without any service packs will end on April 13, 2010. 

Support for Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) will end on July 13, 2010.* 

If you're running one of these versions after support ends, you won't get security updates for Windows. 

* Note: There's no SP3 for the 64-bit version of Windows XP. If you’re running the 64-bit version of Windows XP with SP2, you have the latest service pack and will continue to be eligible for support and receive updates until April 8, 2014.

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Dates when the RC version of Windows 7 expires
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/release-candidate-Windows-7

[I'm not sure whether the RC is the same as the trial version downloaded by us.]

You'll get notices about the RC version expiration in three stages.

1. On February 15, 2010, the expiration notification process begins.
   -You'll receive an expiration notification in the notification area,
    at the far right of the task bar, once daily.
   -You'll see the Notification wizard once every four hours,
    and then, later, once every hour.
2. On March 1, 2010, Windows 7 RC enters the next stage of expiration.
   -Expiration notifications will continue to appear in the notification area.
   -Your PC will begin restarting every two hours. Windows 
    won't save your work during shutdown.
3. On June 1, 2010, Windows 7 RC expires.
   -Windows starts to a black desktop.
   -You'll see a Windows Activation dialog box that says the 
    version of Windows you're running is not genuine.
   -Your PC will continue to restart every two hours. Windows 
    won't save your work during shutdown.

How to tell if you're running the RC or final release version of Windows 7

  If you're running the RC version of Windows 7, you'll see Windows 7 RC and
  Build Number 7100 displayed in the lower-right corner of your Windows desktop.

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Operating System VersionS
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms724832(VS.85).aspx

Operating System Version
The GetVersionEx function retrieves the major and minor version numbers and other information about the currently running version of the operating system. The VerifyVersionInfo function enables you to determine whether the current system satisfies a specified set of operating system version conditions. For more information, see the following topics:

Getting the System Version
Verifying the System Version

The following table summarizes the most recent operating system version numbers. 

Operating system    Version number 	Release Date
Windows 7 		6.1 			
Windows Server 2008 R2 	6.1 

Windows Server 2008 	6.0(Build 6001)	March 2008
Windows Vista 		6.0(Build 6000)	January 2007

Windows Server 2003 R2 	5.2 
Windows Server 2003 	5.2 		March 2003
Windows XP 		5.1 		August 2001
Windows 2000 		5.0 		December 1999
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Windows NT 4.0		4.0		July 1996
Windows NT 3.51		3.51		May 1995
Windows NT 3.5		3.5		September 1994
Windows NT 3.1		3.1		July 1993

[EVERY thing to the right (including Build and Release Dates) and below the string of 'plus signs' came from the book: _Windows(R) Internals, Fifth Edition_ p.1. I've added them for completeness.
(A VERY short history of the book, itself, is given, on page xxiii. Its genesis was _Inside Windows NT_ by Helen Custer - which a few of you may remember.)
Everything above the plus signs was inserted by me. Now back to Microsoft's web page.]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Identifying the current operating system is usually not the best way to determine whether a particular operating system feature is present. This is because the operating system may have had new features added in a redistributable DLL. Rather than using GetVersionEx to determine the operating system platform or version number, test for the presence of the feature itself.

To determine the best way to test for a feature, refer to the documentation for the feature of interest. The following list discusses some common techniques for feature detection:

... <snip> ...

Build date: 3/25/2010

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Shell and Common Controls Versions
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb776779(VS.85).aspx

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Win 9x Versions
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/158238

This article was previously published under Q158238
...

Release                    Version                      File dates
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows 95 retail, OEM     4.00.950                     7/11/95
Windows 95 retail SP1      4.00.950A                    7/11/95-12/31/95
OEM Service Release 2      4.00.1111* (4.00.950B)       8/24/96
OEM Service Release 2.1    4.03.1212-1214* (4.00.950B)  8/24/96-8/27/97  
OEM Service Release 2.5    4.03.1214* (4.00.950C)       8/24/96-11/18/97

Windows 98 retail, OEM     4.10.1998                    5/11/98
Windows 98 Security CD     4.10.1998A 
Windows 98 Second Edition  4.10.2222A                   4/23/99
Windows 98 SE Security CD  4.10.2222B

Windows Me                 4.90.3000                    6/08/00
Windows Me Security CD     4.90.3000A

[Just for completeness, I've inserted this table of Win9x _official_ versions. I think of them as: 5, 5A, 6A, 6B, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Sometimes I put a 'ninety' in front - except for the last one. The last one becomes 100, or the Century Edition. Ol' Win 7 is probably the rarest version. ;-) ]

Thomas Clayton