Mainstream Support

Mainstream Support is the first phase of the product lifecycle. At the supported service pack level, Mainstream Support for products and services includes:

- Incident support (no-charge incident support, paid incident support, support charged on an hourly basis, support for warranty claims)
- Security update support
- The ability to request non-security updates

Extended Support

The Extended Support phase follows Mainstream Support. At the supported service pack level, Extended Support includes:

- Paid support
- Security updates at no additional cost

What happens after support ends?

Once extended support concludes, Microsoft ceases to release security patches, leaving servers vulnerable to potential exploits. While paid support is typically available to extend patching for a limited time, it increasingly requires migration to an Azure (Microsoft Cloud) environment, particularly for versions from Server 2012 onwards.

To ensure optimal performance, security, and access to new features, we recommend upgrading Windows Server software as part of a regular five-year hardware refresh cycle. This approach ensures compatibility with the latest Windows Server releases and maintains mainstream support throughout the server’s lifecycle.