Skip to Content
United States
Worldwide
Solaris 8 Transition Information
|
» Solaris 8 Transition Frequently Asked Questions The Solaris 8 Operating System (OS) was originally released in February 2000, and since then has been superseded by two later releases: the Solaris 9 OS which was initially released in May 2002, and the Solaris 10 OS which was initially released in January 2005. The current updates of these releases are Solaris 9 9/05 and Solaris 10 5/08. On August 16, 2006 Sun announced the transition of the Solaris 8 OS. Per this transition:
In addition, Sun extended the period of time that customers were entitled to install Solaris 8 on new Sun SPARC systems at no additional charge. Instead of ending on the last ship date for Solaris 8 as it usually would, this right to install continued until December 31, 2007. Starting on January 1, 2008, installing Solaris 8 on a system requires the purchase of a Solaris 8 license. Licensing options and more information is available in the Frequently Asked Questions. Note that many newer SPARC systems require a more current release than Solaris 8. Support for Solaris 8Each Solaris release is supported for five years after it stops shipping, utilizing a two-phase support program. Support for Solaris 8 will continue beyond its last ship date of February 16, 2007 through this program.The first phase lasts for two years and is referred to as "Retirement Support Phase I"; all support continues just as if the product were shipping, although requests for enhancement are no longer accepted. The second phase, "Retirement Support Phase II", begins and lasts for an additional three years. During this phase, all support operations continue, but no new patches are available. See the Solaris Operating System Life Cycle web page for more details. See the Solaris Operating System Retirement End Of Life Matrix for a complete list of which versions of the Solaris OS are currently in Retirement Support mode. Upgrading to newer versions of SolarisUpgrading to newer versions of Solaris, including the industry-leading Solaris 10 OS, is easy. Through the Solaris Application Guarantee program, Sun guarantees, at no additional cost, that applications currently running on Solaris 7, 8, or 9 will run without modification on the Solaris 10 Operating System. The Solaris Application Guarantee reflects the confidence Sun has in the compatibility of applications from one release of Solaris to the next and is designed to make re qualification—let alone porting—a thing of the past. Sun also makes it easy to develop and deploy on the Solaris Operating System running on both of the industry's most popular 32/64-bit processor platforms: SPARC and x86/x64. Visit the Solaris Binary Application Guarantee Program web page for more details.Sun has included labeled security features for free in the latest Solaris 10 OS through the Solaris Trusted Extensions feature. Sun recommends new developments of labeled security to utilize this new Solaris 10 feature. More information is available at : » Solaris Security Features Page » Solaris Security Learning Center Sun also offers the Solaris 10 Global Migration Program to assist customers in adopting Solaris 10. In conjunction with Sun global migration services partners, the program delivers services for a successful migration on time and on budget. Customers with a valid SunSpectrum support contract for a Sun system or a Sun Software Support contract for the Solaris Operating System are entitled to receive the Solaris 10 or Solaris 9 OS and any associated updates. |
 |