Microsoft will support its Surface Pro tablet until July 2017, or almost four-and-a-half years after its launch last weekend, the company’s website confirmed. Like its predecessor the Surface RT, the Windows 8-powered Surface Pro sports a support lifecycle that’s less than half the usual 10 years Microsoft allots its software products. Microsoft will support the Surface Pro only in a “Mainstream” support phase, the company said on its lifecycle website. Last year, Microsoft announced a similar support schedule for the Surface RT. That device, which launched in late Oct. 2012, will be supported until April 2017, or nearly four-and-a-half years. Microsoft typically supports consumer-grade software only during a five-year mainstream stretch. Business software and operating systems receive another five-year span, called “Extended” support, for a total of 10 years.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with AI strategy, implementation and governance, as well as technology, media and marketing. Named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology, he is a bestselling author, covers tech and business for Fox 5’s Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN, and writes the popular daily business blog Think About This. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.