by Jon Cohen
Commercial
Systems Division
The "MPE/iX Release Obsolescence Strategy" is a collection
of guidelines that determines how long a particular MPE/iX Release
is supported.
In recent years, our Obsolescence Strategy has grown to be
very complex, ambiguous, and confusing. Even HP people had difficulty
interpreting these guidelines to determine when a particular release
would no longer be supported.
In response, we have adopted a new, simpler Obsolescence Strategy:
In general, HP will support the two
most recent mainline releases.
In order to facilitate customers moving to new releases,
we will support the oldest release for at least six months after
the new release ships. In other words, Release "N-2" will still
be supported for at least six months after Release "N" ships.
The release of an Express Release or a Powerpatch
on any particular release does not extend its support life.
Given the rate with which we ship releases, this new strategy
implies that any particular release will be supported for at least
three years, and in most cases, most releases will be supported
for a significantly longer period of time.
This new strategy is effective now. This implies that Release
5.0, which first shipped February 17, 1995, will become obsolete
as early as six months after Release 6.0 ships.
