The term “end-of-life” is frequently used by other software companies to denote the end of product support or end of usefulness of a particular operating system, database, or application server platform – especially because applications that run on top of such platforms are often tied to a particular version of the operating system or database and cannot be easily migrated to a newer version. Therefore, such operating system or database vendors must maintain multiple versions of their software in parallel and will typically announce the end-of-life of a particular version some 5-6 years after that version is introduced, which means that all applications running on top of that version must now be migrated to a newer platform.
However, the term “end-of-life” as it is used or understood by some in the industry is not a concept that is necessarily applicable with respect to Altova MissionKit desktop developer tools software, Altova Server Products, and Altova Regulatory Solutions, because our release-cycle works differently.
Altova provides software for developers, software architects, DBAs, and IT personnel and our users typically want to see added support for the latest standards, the newest operating systems, and the most current database server platforms. Therefore, Altova offers a Support & Maintenance Package (“SMP”) that includes a combination of technical support and the latest software releases – both minor and major versions – for the duration of the SMP that a customer has purchased (see https://www.altova.com/support#smp and https://www.altova.com/legal/smp-terms).
For as long as a customer has an active SMP, they will receive all minor upgrades as well as all major version upgrades at no additional cost and can download them directly from our website. In any given year Altova will typically release 2-3 minor versions or service packs and one major version, depending on the product.
SMP must be purchased separately with Altova Desktop Developer Tools, which are licensed on a one-time license fee basis, and is automatically included with Altova Server Products and Altova Regulatory Solutions, which are licensed on an annual basis.
In accordance with the terms of Altova’s SMP, for as long as you have a valid SMP, Altova and its support team will use reasonable commercial efforts to work with you with respect to issues or questions resulting directly out of the operation of the (i) software that you originally purchased and that continues to be covered with a valid SMP or (ii) later versions or releases of the software that you may have installed pursuant to your SMP rights, that are covered with a valid SMP. Altova provides bug fixes, solutions or other work-arounds in maintenance releases, updates or new versions and the resolution of your issue or question may require that you install the later release or version (which you are entitled to do at no additional cost, provided your SMP is active). In the event that you choose not to do so, an alternate solution for that specific issue may not be provided.
For example, if you look at the New Feature Index and download page for XMLSpy, you can see that in the 2019 cycle we released the following versions: 2019, 2019sp1,2019sp2, 2019r3, and2019r3sp1 – followed by version 2020 and corresponding related versions from the 2020 cycle. Therefore, each subsequent minor or major version number replaces the previous one and it is recommended that customers always upgrade to the latest version available. Error corrections may have been provided in later versions of the software. To ensure that a customer always has the latest version, we provide free notification via e-mail newsletters, our blog, and live update notifications within the software. Furthermore, a customer can always go to the “Help” menu within the software and check if they have the latest version installed.
This end of life policy applies to the following Altova Desktop Developer Tools:
Altova Server Products and the Regulatory Solutions with a term license are as follows: