Antigen 8.0 End-of-life

I wanted to take the opportunity to remind all customers using Antigen for Exchange 8.0 and Antigen for SMTP Gateways 8.0 that the end-of-life date for these products is creeping closer. As of Dec. 31, 2009, these Antigen 8.0 products will no longer be supported, and will no longer receive any engine updates. We encourage customers to upgrade to the Antigen 9.0 products as soon as possible.

Equally important, I wanted to make sure that Antigen 8.0 users were aware of the engine revision plans announced on July 1, 2009 – and specifically, what these changes mean for Antigen 8.0 customers.

· Antigen for Exchange 8.0 and Antigen for SMTP Gateways 8.0

Because engines are being retired on Dec. 1, 2009, it is recommended that customers upgrade to Antigen 9.0 prior to Dec. 1 to maximize their protection.

· Antigen for Exchange 8.0 with Advanced Spam Manager and Antigen for SMTP Gateways 8.0 with Advanced Spam Manager

Customers running these products will continue to be protected until the product end-of-life on Dec. 31, 2009.

· Antigen for SharePoint 8.0

There will be a new build released in October 2009 that will give customers access to the revised engine set. Customers should upgrade to this build.

· Antigen for Instant Messaging 8.0

There will be a new build released in October 2009 that will give customers access to the revised engine set. Customers should upgrade to this build. 

If you have questions on end-of-life for Antigen 8.0 products or need updated license files, please contact fssadm@microsoft.com.

Brita Jenquin
Sr. Product Manager
Forefront Protection Suite