Jim said:
My m8 runs vista and i was wondering when support for this OS runs
out.
To find lifespans for support (i.e., lifecycle) of various Microsoft
products, go to:
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/
You'll probably want to click on the link for products listed
alphabetically. You didn't mention WHICH edition and bit-width version
of Windows Vista you have so you'll have to do your own search. Likely
they all have the same lifecycle.
Mainstream support means the product is supported. Extended means
support will cost a lot more as Microsoft will have to allocate
resources for your particular incident that would otherwise be allocated
to products that are under the mainstream support phase. You will still
get the standard security updates during the extended support phase.
After extended support ends, you can read item #4 of the article below
or rely upon 3rd parties to support the product if you cannot do it
yourself.
For what is covered under different phases of support, see:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy