Some software is more difficult to kill than a horror movie villain, it seems, as Domino and Notes versions 9.0.x and 10.0.x are now set to limp on until the end of this decade.
The platform that began life as Lotus Notes back in the 1980s is still surviving after being acquired by India-based HCL Technologies in 2019 for its HCL Software division.
The latest incarnation, known as HCL Domino 14.5, was launched in June this year, bringing various server upgrades and improved support for open standards, plus some inevitable AI features in the shape of Domino IQ.
But it seems that older versions of the software from before HCL took over are proving more difficult to kill off than Michael Myers in the Halloween franchise.
HCL Software has now issued an update confirming the final date for Extended Support for Domino and Notes v9.0.x and v10.0.x will fall on June 30, 2030, some 12 years after version 10 was released.
This follows an earlier announcement from the firm that versions 9.x and 10.x would no longer be available as of December 1, 2022, and would not receive any support beyond June 1, 2024. Customers were expected to upgrade to newer versions of the products.
However, a later announcement in 2024 noted there may be “unique situations whereby customers are unable to upgrade from Domino and Notes v9.0.x or v10.0.x to a supported product version prior to the end of support on June 1, 2024.”
To accommodate customers in this situation, HCL Software made available Extended Support for v9.0.x and v10.0.x for any customers who chose to sign up, starting June 2, 2024. This would only be offered through June 2, 2025, the company warned, and support would be limited to technical assistance and existing fixes for known problems.
But in October 2024, a further update stated that Extended Support for Domino and Notes v9.0.x and v10.0.x would now be offered through June 2, 2026, to customers who chose to sign up. Again, the company said that fixes to known problems would be provided, but new defects would not be covered.
This brings us to the latest update: HCL has now shifted the cut-off for Extended Support to June 30, 2030, as it seems many of those customers are either unable or unwilling to make the shift to a more up-to-date version of the platform.
HCL warns that due to the age of these versions and how long they have been in the market, certain components are not included in the Extended Support coverage. Details are provided here.
Will this be the end, we wonder, or will HCL post a future update informing customers that it has pushed back the end date of Extended Support for Domino and Notes v9.0.x and v10.0.x holdouts by another few years?
This doesn’t come for free, of course – HCL provides Extended Support for an additional charge, and it is offered as an extension to an established support arrangement for existing customers.
But it does demonstrate that old versions of Domino and Notes are still in use by enough companies to make it financially worthwhile for HCL to continue to provide support, although it likely prefers customers upgrade to a newer release.
This is in contrast to Microsoft, which has refused to extend support for some of its products that are reaching the end of their life. Time is set to run out for the Office 2016 and 2019 application suites on October 14, for example, and the software giant’s only recommendation is that customers sign up for its subscription-based Microsoft 365 cloud service.
October 14 is also the end of support date for Windows 10, but Microsoft is willing to provide Extended Security Updates (ESU) to consumers for $30 for one year (free with some caveats), or $61 per device for one year for commercial customers. The latter can be renewed annually for a maximum of three years and the cost rises each year. ®