Product Support Policy
Last updated: 2021-10-28
This document applies for Azure RTOS components in https://github.com/azure-rtos including ThreadX, NetX & NetX Duo, FileX, GUIX, USBX and LevelX.
Azure RTOS releases generally follow the guidelines defined by Semantic Versioning. Given an Azure RTOS version number X.Y.Z (e.g. 6.1.9):
- X increases for a milestone release. Currently Azure RTOS components stay at version 6.
- Y increases for a feature release when there is a major feature (e.g. v6.1.0 introduced Azure RTOS IoT Middleware) added.
- Z increases for a every three month regular updates or patch for critical bug fixes.
Azure RTOS provides 60 months support for each milestone release (e.g. v6.x.x) and 24 months for each feature release (e.g. v6.1.x). The Maintenance or so called LTS (Long-term-support) period starts right after a new feature release is published. Azure RTOS version 6.0.0 and all future releases will follow this support policy.
The entire life cycle of a certain feature release (e.g. v6.1.x) can be broken down into Service and Maintenance periods:
| Period | Duration | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Subject to the actual development plan | New features and regular bug fixes |
| Maintenance (LTS) | 24 months after next feature release published | Critical and security bug fixes |
- Azure RTOS v6.1.0 was released in 2020/10, it will be actively in development with bug fixes for the regular update version (e.g. v6.1.9 released in 2021/10).
- Users are always welcomed to update to the latest version during the Service period.
- When Azure RTOS v6.2.0 is released. The latest v6.1.x will get into the Maintenance (LTS) period. We will keep backporting important bug fixes from v6.2.x to it. Until 24 months later, which v6.1.x will come to End Of Life.
The actual duration of each feature release may varies depending on the actual development plan. Here are the support periods for the recent feature release versions:
- Users are recommended starting a new project using release in "Service" period.
- Users are encouraged to upgrade all projects to a newer Azure RTOS release before the support period finishes.
- For particular cases users cannot upgrade the projects, security / critical bug fixes can be applied to it with communication with Microsoft.
- Pre-release version (public preview, pre-release and etc.,) or feature marked as "Preview" are not covered by any support period.
- For prior releases to v6. The support is covered by ExpressLogic support contract.