How can customers and partners estimate the support lifecycle for products that are not yet available or that are still in the Mainstream Support phase?
The Support Lifecycle policy is designed to help take the guesswork out of the length of time Microsoft provides support for a product. For Business and Developer products, Microsoft standardizes a minimum of 10 years of support. The lifecycle combines 5 years of Mainstream Support or 2 years after the successor product (N+1) is released, whichever is longer and 5 years Extended Support or 2 years after the second successor product (N+2) is released, whichever is longer. For Consumer, Hardware, and Multimedia products, Microsoft standardizes a minimum of 5 years of Mainstream Support or 2 years after the successor product (N+1) is released, whichever is longer. Products that release new versions annually will receive 3 years of Mainstream Support. Extended Support is not offered for Consumer, Hardware, and Multimedia products, and for products that release new versions annually. For information about end-of-support dates and any Extended support options (if applicable) for all products
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