Java SE & Java SE for Business Support Road Map

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With Sun's launch of Java SE for Business, Sun is providing this updated support road map for Java SE and Java SE for Business product lines, to help customers better understand the maintenance and support options available for these products. The key difference, as it relates to each product lines support road map, is the length of time which Sun will maintain the release families within each product line. Java SE release families will be maintained for a minimum of 3 years from that release families general availability date (GA date), whereas those same release families will be eligible for up to 15 years of support with Java SE for Business. The following documentation provides a more detailed review of the support road map, along with examples specific to release families available at the time of this article. All customers should refer to the specific service list they purchase to determine the specific level of support they are entitled.

Java Platform Standard Edition (Java SE) Release Families

Release families are identified as the major releases of the Java Platform, Standard Edition, such as 1.4.0, 5.0 and 6. As of the publishing of this article, the Java technology end of life (EOL) policy has been revised to ensure support and maintenance of Java SE release families for a 3 years, or until a newer release family has been made generally available . Consistent with previously policies and documentation, Sun will post a EOL notice for each release family 1 ½ years prior to that release families End of Service Life (EOSL), indicating that the release family has entered into its EOL transition period. Once the release family has completed that EOL transition period, the downloads of the release family, which has then reached its EOSL, will continue to be made available through Sun's web sites, such as the Java Product Archive page. EOL notifications and EOSL dates are no longer explicitly linked to the availability of newer Java SE release families.

This revision represents a change from Sun's previous Java Technology EOL policy, which previously linked the EOL date of a release family to the general availability of a specific newer release family. Examples of historical Java technology support road map

With Sun's new support road map, Sun can now provide explicit EOL notification dates, EOSL dates, and support periods for Java SE release families in the following table:

Java SE Minor Release Lines

Java SE minor release lines, represent a cumulative set of implementation enhancements to a release family, such as the Java SE 1.4.1, and 1.4.2 minor release lines to the Java SE 1.4 release family. As a new implementation of an existing release family, Java SE minor release lines do not have separate EOL periods. Once a new Java SE minor release line is made available, the previous Java SE minor release line for a release family will be considered to have reached its EOSL. Download links for the previous minor release line will be moved to the EOL and Product Archive page for historical purposes and to allow developers to resolve issues with those products that have completed their EOL process. As an new implementation of an existing release family, the most recent Java SE minor release line for a release family will not have a separate EOL period from the release family, and will announce and complete its EOL transition with the release family.

Java SE for Business Release Families

Customers seeking longer standard support and maintenance periods for each release family are encouraged to migrate to Java SE for Business. Java SE for Business release families will follow the Sun Standard End of Service Life policy for value-added products. As such, during a release families five (5) year EOSL period (the time between EOL notification and the EOSL of that Release Family), customers will be eligible to receive full support during that entire EOSL period, in accordance with the their support contract with Sun (including the applicable Service Listing) as set forth in Sun's online Service List.

Java SE for Business Retirement Support for Release Families

Customers interested in continuing to receive critical bug fixes and general maintenance for release families that have reached their EOL, will have the option to purchase retirement support. Retirement support is expected to be made available for a release family, on an annual basis for a period of 5 years after that release family has reached its EOL. After a release family has completed its retirement support phase, it will be said to have reached its EOSL.

Examples of some key product life dates for Java SE for Business release families include:

Update Releases & Revisions

As an new implementation of an existing release family, an update or revision itself does not have a separate EOL period. Once a new update or revision is posted, the previous, displaced download will be moved to the Java Product Archive page.

Optional Packages

Once the End-of-Life process starts on the last instance of an optional package, a notice will be posted on all relevant download pages stating that the product has entered the EOL process and how long the process will continue until the product is no longer supported by Sun. Generally, an optional package will follow the EOL time frame of the last Java SE release that supports the optional package. However, there may be other cases where an optional product follows a different EOL timetable. Once the product has completed the EOL process, the download links will be moved to the Java Product Archive page for historical purposes and to allow developers to resolve issues with unsupported EOSL products.