Microsoft Surface Lifecycle: End Of Life And Support Status
Last updated on January 23, 2024
Microsoft Surface are notebook devices manufactured by Microsoft itself. These are touchscreen 2-in-1 devices designed to be used both with keyboards and as standalone tablets.
Surface devices come preinstalled with a supported Windows operating system.
Support status guide
End of life (EOL) is the end of a product’s useful life. When a product reaches the end of its life cycle, the manufacturer no longer supports it. The following table explains the different phases of a product’s lifecycle. Testing status is when the product is initially released and EOL is when product support is no longer offered. The time between these two points is the support timeframe.
Testing
The software is not yet publicly available. It is in testing phase i.e., alpha, beta, release preview etc.
Active
The software is actively supported by the vendor.
Phasing Out
The software will soon reach its end of life. You need to look for upgrade or migration options. The software will automatically go into phasing out status 2 months before end of life.
End Of Life
The software is no longer supported by the vendor. You need to make sure your system and environment are safe.
Version
Released
Active Support
Surface devices receive two types of support from Microsoft: Driver and firmware support, and Windows operating system support. The lifecycle of a Surface device begins when a device is first released and concludes when a device ceases publication of driver and firmware updates on the End of Servicing date.
Driver and firmware support
The driver and firmware support defines the actual lifecycle of the Surface device. Microsoft had different policies for the devices released before and after 1st January 2021.
For devices released before 1st January 2021, Surface devices will receive driver and firmware updates for at least four years from when the device was first released.
For devices released on and after January 1, 2021, the Surface devices will receive driver and firmware updates for at least six years from when the device was first released.
In both cases, if the support duration is longer than the said years, an updated end-of-servicing date will be published before the date of the last servicing.
OS version support
Surface devices receive driver and firmware updates for Windows operating system versions released in the last 30 months only. Microsoft maintains a list of minimum supported OS versions for Surface devices.
Once the device support period is concluded at the End of Servicing date, devices will continue to receive Windows OS feature and security updates per the Windows Lifecycle Policy.
EOLs