December 2002

Dear Valued Customer,

In accordance with the SGI® software product life cycle management strategy, SGI® announces support mode changes for various software products on a semi-annual basis. The decision to change the status of these products is based on a combination of the availability of superior follow-on products, changes in business strategy, and limited customer interest. Generally all software will retain its previously announced classification until explicitly changed through customer notification via a letter, release notice, and/or Web posting. Every second and fourth quarter, additional products will be moved into the support modes defined here.

Listed near the end of this letter are additional support mode changes. Note that the effective dates for the different support modes may be revised by future semi-annual letters or announcements. Later dates announced in any new letters or announcements supersede any prior, earlier announced effective dates.

Software Support Mode Descriptions

Included directly below is a brief description of each of the eight SGI® support modes. You may also visit the IRIX® Support Policy Web page located at http://support.sgi.com/news/support to view the general Software Support Policy document along with the previously posted IRIX® Support Policy documents, announcements, and customer letters covering all of the support mode changes to date. You may also view a cumulative list of all IRIX® support mode changes announced to date from the IRIX® Support Policy Web page.

ACTIVE: These software products are being actively developed and maintained with new features and fixes by SGI® or a contracted vendor. A product in this support mode is expected to remain in Active mode for as long as business conditions dictate. Publications are updated for new features, enhancements, and for documentation bugfixes.

MAINTENANCE: These software products are still maintained by SGI® or a contracted vendor as an important part of the product mix, although they are no longer being actively developed with new features. A product is expected to remain in Maintenance mode as long as levels of customer demand dictate, usually 18-24 months but occasionally less as the urgency of conditions demands. Fixes continue to be made available for data integrity problems, system security problems, and critical customer problems. Publications are not generally updated, with the exception of critical information.

LIMITED: These software products are being actively developed and maintained by operating system or application software distributors, and open source or freeware product owners. SGI® provides only support services for these products and does not develop bugfixes.

LEGACY: These software products are no longer actively developed or maintained. Products may be available to new customers and may be distributed in limited quantities through the Remarketed Products Group. SGI provides only support services for these products and does not develop bugfixes.

RETIRED: Any product developed by SGI®, operating system and application software distributors, open source vendors, or freeware vendors that is no longer actively developed, maintained, or distributed (via download or on CD) falls under this support mode category. SGI® provides support services for these products to honor existing contractual obligations. Support is limited to providing known fixes and workarounds. No new features or bugfixes are created for products in this support mode.

COURTESY: These software products are provided by SGI® as a convenience to our customers, via download from the Web or bundled with SGI® software distributions. They are provided "as is" and are not covered by software support contracts. There is no call center support. For some of these products there may be an e-mail alias provided to allow customer communication about the product. This mode applies to software such as demos included with hardware shipments, freeware, and open source. Periodically, new versions of Courtesy products may be made available to customers at SGI®' s discretion. Availability of products in Courtesy mode may be discontinued at any time.

DIVESTED: These software products have been turned over to a third party that has accepted some level of responsibility for further support and development of the product. SGI® no longer sells, supports, or distributes these products in any form.

EXPIRED: These software products are no longer supported or distributed by SGI® in any form.

We recognize that there will always be customers with special needs regarding their hardware and software that fall outside the bounds of these definitions. Those needs may continue to be addressed in a personally tailored manner through SGI® Professional Services organizations.

The following Software Support Mode Summary table lists in a compact form the different support modes as they are defined. Following the table is a list of products that are being transitioned to new modes. This list includes product names and dates and any follow-on or alternative product, if known.

SGI® wants you to continue to receive effective technical assistance and service for your SGI® products. For more information about SGI® enhanced support modes, see SupportfolioTM (http://support.sgi.com) or contact your local Customer Service Center. Thank you for your business, and we look forward to supporting you through these product transitions.

Terry Oberdank
Vice President, Technology Solutions
SGI®

Software Support Mode Summary Table
 
  Active Maintenance Limited Legacy Retired Courtesy Divested Expired
Periodic new feature releases X   X     *C    
Periodic fix releases X X X     *C    
Customer critical fixes X X            
File bugs for customers and provide tracking information to the customer     *L          
Periodic publication updates X X X          
Workarounds and existing fixes X X X X X      
Support contract coverage available X X X X X      
Distributed by SGI® X X X X *R X    
Customers directed to a third party             X  
Not supported by SGI®             X X
Not distributed by SGI®             X X
Fee-based assistance available at SGI®'s discretion through Professional Services X X X X X X X X

*C - New versions of Courtesy products may periodically be made available that contain new features and/or fixes.

*L - SGI® does not develop the bugfixes. Rather, SGI® only files the bugfixes with the developer of the product.

*R - Products in Retired mode are not generally available. Their distribution is restricted to those customers with whom SGI® has contractual obligations.

Product Support Mode Changes

SGI® is changing the support modes for the software products listed in the following tables.

©2002, Silicon Graphics, Inc. All rights reserved. Silicon Graphics, SGI®, the SGI® logo, and IRIX® are registered trademarks and SupportfolioTM is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. Netscape® is a registered trademark of Netscape® Communications.