Hasta la vista! Microsoft finally ends extended updates for ancient Windows version

Support expires for Windows Server 2008, and the codebase released to manufacturing in 2006

Microsoft has quietly maintained support for an OS that's nearly 18 years old, but its time has finally passed - the Windows Vista-powered Windows Server 2008 took its last breath this week.

January 13 marked another milestone for legacy systems, as support for the software - codenamed Longhorn Server - expired for customers that bought Microsoft Premium Assurance (PA).

Extended support ended for Windows Server 2008 on January 14, 2020. It was possible to keep the lights on until January 10, 2023, via Extended Security Updates. A fourth year came courtesy of Azure, which took the code to January 9, 2024, but that was it for anyone without PA.

The long-defunct plan was a paid add-on to Software Assurance that kept security updates flowing for 6 years. It was eventually phased out in favor of Extended Security Updates to ease the transition between software versions. However, Microsoft said, "We will honor the terms of Premium Assurance for customers who already purchased it."

The final patch means an end of support for the Windows Vista codebase, which was released to manufacturing in 2006 and made generally available in 2007. The Vista-derived Windows Server 2008 was released in 2008.

The extinction event was logged on social media, with one person noting the lengthy time in which updates for the Vista codebase kept flowing: "It's so strange to think that updates for Vista existed for a longer time than updates for XP did, considering the... 'small,' difference between their reception and usage."

In another corner of the Microsoft universe, the US vendor called time on some modems in Windows 10 this week.

The January 13, 2026, Windows 10 patches (for which many users will need Extended Security Updates to access) marked the end of the road for several models, as the company announced that the agrsm64.sys, agrsm.sys, smserl64.sys, and smserial.sys modem drivers were being removed.

"Modem hardware dependent on these specific drivers will no longer work in Windows," Microsoft said.

This doesn't mean all modems, but the removal of the likes of agrsm.sys means that hardware using the legacy Agere modem chipset won't function. The driver family has been noted as a vulnerability, and given its legacy nature, removal makes more sense than hoping for a patch. ®