> Back in July of 2005 we announced that "z/VM V4.4 will continue to be > available after the availability of z/VM V5.2. z/VM V4.4 will not be > withdrawn from marketing at this time and will continue to be supported > until September 30, 2006." Then, on December 6, we announced the > withdrawal of z/VM 4.4.
I have also been told that although support will be withdrawn for z/VM 4.4 on September 20, 2006, you can continue to order fixes for it after that time. No new problems will be taken or new fixes written, but stuff that already exists will still be available. (I have this in writing from IBM). IBM will also continue to collect the $11,000 annual maintenance fee for z/VM 4.4 which will allow you to continue to access the existing fixes and provide a vehicle for upgrade to the latest release if and when IBM decides to bless Z arch on the FLEX platform. I sure hope they do because not everyone who is in this boat will go with new IBM hardware. Some will move off the VM and or VSE platform completely which would be a huge loss in my humble opinion. Although this is not a great situation, I don't think FLEX users who are on z/VM 4.4 need to panic after 9/30/06. After all, I ran VM/ESA 2.3 from 3/13/1999 until 1/31/2004. And z/VM 4.4 is even more stable and rock solid than ESA 2.3 ever was. As long as your change control process is a good one, I could see running z/VM 4.4 could run a long, long time. These are my personal opinions. Ed Zell Illinois Mutual Life (309) 674-8255 x-107 . CONFIDENTIAL NOTICE: This communication, including any attachments, is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and contains information which may be confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, any distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, notify the sender immediately, delete the communication and destroy all copies. Thank you for your compliance.
