Windows Server 2003, Microsoft’s first ultra-successful server operating system, will retire in six months. Microsoft will terminate security updates for Server 2003 on July 14, ending the product’s support lifecycle. There are still millions of machines running Server 2003 in most data centers, with pockets of the software in data centers. Microsoft sells after-retirement support contracts, called “Custom Support,” to its largest customers, who must have a plan to eradicate the unsupported product. Many of those applications are 32-bit and have been kept on Server 2003 for that reason.”]