Issue

Solution

Executive summary

The purpose of this document is to introduce procedures regarding our product lifecycle, End of Life (EOL) policies, and product-related support policies. To ensure our customers have the best protection possible, we want to communicate the EOL process in a transparent and predictable way for everyone involved.
In this End of Life document, we have defined product categories and created support policies for each of them. We have retroactively applied new support policies to existing products and versions, while still honoring any prior commitments that we made to our customers. To maintain consistency, these policies will be strictly applied to all future releases.
We also present a template for how to approach our product versioning and have drafted new guidelines to follow.

Versioning Rules

ESET follows industry standards for product version numbering. See the example on how to read the individual numbers found in the product version:

Versioning explained

• Major version – Moving to a later version typically involves a major product overhaul, change in product architecture, or dropped operating system support for earlier operating system versions.
• Minor version/Service release – Increasing this number means minor bug fixes and minor functionality changes compared to the previous version.
• Build Number/Patch level – Indicates required automatic security and stability updates. No functionality changes are made.

ESET guarantees full support for the latest major versions and corresponding minor releases of these products:

• Windows
  • ESET Smart Security Premium
  • ESET Internet Security
  • ESET NOD32 Antivirus
• Android
  • ESET Mobile Security
  • ESET Parental Control
  • ESET Smart TV Security
• macOS
  • ESET Cyber Security Pro
  • ESET Cyber Security

Product lifecycle

Each of our products fits into a specific stage of the product lifecycle. To define a comprehensive End of Life policy, we have categorized them into the following groups:

1. Products in active development
   These products are in the early or middle stages of the lifecycle.
   Products in active development regularly undergo the end of version procedure for earlier product versions (every time a new major version is released).
2. Products in maintenance
   These products are in a highly mature state and ESET only maintains them. There is no development of any new features. Products in maintenance do not get releases guaranteeing compatibility with future operating system releases.
3. Products to be terminated
   These products undergo an internal product termination procedure, which results in the products complete End of Life.

Planned termination of a product/tool/service

• An End of Life state during which the product, tool, or service is discontinued, a newer version is not available, and functionality is terminated.
• After the termination is approved, the product moves to Limited Support.

Unplanned termination of a product/tool/service

• An End of Life state during which unpredictable external factors including operating system platform changes and API closures affect the functionality of ESET products, services or features. There can be immediate negative effects and the user’s security can be jeopardized.
• ESET reserves the right to notify the user and execute the End of Life process outside the minimal standard time duration.

Free vs. paid termination of a tool/service

Paid services and tools

ESET provides at least a one-year notice of the upcoming planned termination date and one year of Limited Support.

Free services and tools

ESET provides at least two months’ notice of the upcoming planned termination date with two months of Limited Support.

Support levels

These are the general support levels for ESET products and services. For specific support levels of individual products and product versions, refer to their corresponding sections in the document.

• Full Support – This is understood industry-wide as providing the best efforts to serve customers by fixing all bugs and offering full functionality. We also offer wide-ranging assistance to our customers. All future operating system releases will be supported unless there is a major external hurdle that we cannot overcome with reasonable effort.
• Limited Support – It is generally limited to Technical Support and Development Support, which is limited to bug fixing so there is no support for new operating system versions.
• End of Life – At this stage of the product lifecycle, we offer zero support or assistance and do not guarantee the product’s functionality at all. The best we can do is guide the customer to the most appropriate migration path so that they upgrade to the latest equivalent product.

Full Support	Availability of regular module updates1 Confirmed problems and vulnerabilities addressed with security and stability updates or service releases Support of the latest operating system/version of the applicable operating system2 Compatibility with select operating systems Technical Support available to assist with all product-related issues Documentation (Knowledgebase and Online Help guides) kept up-to-date
Limited Support	Availability of regular module updates1 Security and stability updates for critical bugs at ESET’s discretion Technical Support is available only for known bugs (where a fix is already available) No localization updates are possible Compatibility with select operating systems at ESET’s discretion Documentation updates guaranteed only for critical issues (preventing the products’ core functionality and security from working properly)
End of Life	Availability of regular module updates at ESET’s discretion3 No technical support or security and stability updates are available for this version

More details about ESET End of Life policy in PDF

Click the name of your product below to see the current level of support offered by ESET.

Windows

Android

Mac

Linux

Tools

If you have any doubt regarding the level of support for a product(s) that you are using, contact ESET Technical Support.