Withdrawal of Older Versions Announcement - FAQ

Question

Explanation of Withdrawal announcement and FAQ

Answer

The withdrawal announcement is difficult to understand. What is actually happening?

We are actually doing a variety of things to help consolidate or eliminate lightly or unused products. The following types of withdrawals are part of this announcement.

• Products that will be withdrawn from marketing and support
• Products that will be withdrawn from marketing with automatic migrations to replacement parts
• Products that will be withdrawn from marketing, but still supported
• Older versions of an active product that will be withdrawn from marketing
• Products that will announce EOS that have already been withdrawn

What is the impact to 11.50 Editions?

This withdrawal does not impact on-going support for 11.50. IBM will continue to support this version. With regard to 11.50, the withdrawal simply removes four 11.50 media packs from PPA.

I see many primary programs listed. Are these products being withdrawn entirely?

No. Actually, many of the affected parts are media parts. There are some license and support & subscription parts, as well. There are three primary part types affected:

1. Parts starting with the letter “B” are media parts.
2. Parts starting with the letter “D” are license and reinstatement parts.
3. Parts starting with the letter “E” are Support & Subscription parts.

I see several DataBlades listed? Is Informix eliminating DataBlades altogether?

No. Some of the DataBlades are not as popular as others and several are now included in the database server by default. For instance, the Web, Spatial, and TimeSeries DataBlades are included by default. Both the Spatial and TimeSeries blades are auto-registered and ready to use out of the box. The Web Datablade is included in the manufacturing bundle and available for setup. For those customers that are actively using the Spatial and Web DataBlades, we will continue to offer support if you need it.

The Geodetic DataBlade looks like it is withdrawn altogether. Is this true?

No. We are withdrawing the Geodetic DataBlade from marketing, but we will continue to support customers that are actively using it. The Geodetic Datablade is a 3rd party DataBlade that is no longer available for purchase. We are currently working toward future possibilities for 3-D or Earth coordinates.

What products will be withdrawn from marketing and support?

Image Foundation
Withdrawing the Image Foundation DataBlade from marketing and announcing End of Support for 2H 2013. There is no replacement for this DataBlade.

Real Time Loader
Withdrawing the Informix Real Time Loader from marketing and announcing End of Support for 2H 2013. Current Informix Editions have an updated replacement to assist in the loading of TimeSeries data.

Informix Server Administrator
The Informix Server Administrator will be withdrawn from marketing and announcing End of Support in 2H 2013. Informix offers the Open Admin Tool for database monitoring. This tool is bundled with the Informix Editions and available for download.

Workgroup DataBlade Bundle
The Workgroup DataBlade Bundle will be withdrawn from marketing and announcing End of Support for 2H 2013. This product bundle will be reviewed and active DataBlades will be published to the DeveloperWorks web site.

What products will be withdrawn from marketing and have automatic migrations to replacement products?

Standard Engine (SE), SE Personal
We are NOT withdrawing Standard Engine, but rather consolidating several SE editions that were marketed in the past for specific end users. We are withdrawing some outdated media part numbers and SE Personal Edition from marketing and providing an automatic migration to Standard Engine Runtime. 

Online Extended Edition for Linux, online Personal Edition, online
We are NOT withdrawing Informix online, but rather consolidating several online editions that were marketed in the past for specific end users. 
Users who currently have online Extended Edition for Linux will automatically migrate to online Extended Edition. online Personal Edition users will automatically migrate to online Extended Edition.
We are announcing End of Support for Informix online on the Informix PLC web site for version 5.11. Version 5.20 is currently available.

What products will be withdrawn from marketing, but still supported?

Geodetic Datablade
Withdrawing the Geodetic blade from marketing. We will continue to provide support for end users that are actively using this data blade.

Web Datablade
Withdrawing the Web Datablade from marketing. This functionality is currently available in the latest Informix Editions. We will continue to provide support for this product for end users that are actively using this data blade.

Spatial Datablade
Withdrawing the Spatial Datablade from marketing. This functionality is currently available in the latest Informix Editions. We will continue to provide support for this product for end users that are actively using this data blade.

11.50 Informix Editions (Enterprise, Workgroup, Express, Choice, Growth, Ultimate, Warehouse)
We are withdrawing the 11.50 Informix Editions from marketing. Existing users will be able to continue renewing support and migrate to 11.70 Informix Editions.

What older versions of an active product will be withdrawn from marketing?

Connect, Connect Runtime
Withdrawing version 3.0 and 3.5 media parts. Latest versions of 3.70 are available for Connect and Connect Runtime.

Client SDK
Withdrawing version 3.0 and 3.5 media parts. Latest versions of 3.70 are available for Client SDK.

JDBC
Withdrawing version 3.0 and 3.5 media parts. Latest versions of 3.70 are available for JDBC.

XPS
Withdrawing version 8.50. Version 8.51 is the latest available release. Our Informix PLC web site will be updated accordingly.

Excalibur Text Datablade
Withdrawing version 1.30. Version 1.31 is the latest available release. Our Informix PLC web site will be updated accordingly.

What products will announce EOS that have already been withdrawn from marketing?

Informix online
Informix online 5.11 has previously been removed from marketing. We are flagging EOS for Informix online 5.11 on our product life cycle web page.
Informix online 5.20 is currently available.

I-Star
I-Star has previously been removed from marketing. We are flagging EOS for I-Star 5.11 on our product life cycle web page.
The I-Star capabilities are incorporated into Informix Editions.

C-ISAM
Version 7.26 is the most current available release. We are flagging version 7.25 for EOS on our product life cycle web page.

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=630&uid=swg21605117#1

http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=AN&subtype=CA&htmlfid=897/ENUS912-147&appname=USN