It Seems Like Only Yesterday

It seems like only yesterday when the Top 10 Cool New Features in SQL Anywhere 10 was published.

But it wasn't quite "yesterday", it was wayyyy back in 2006, and since then we've had the Top 10 Cool New lists for Version 11 (2008) and Version 12 (2010).

So it shouldn't come as any surprise...

but nevertheless it does

...to see the official End of Life Notice for SQL Anywhere Version 10.x effective on January 25, 2012.

What does that mean?

First, it means no more Version 10 EBFs after January 25, 2012.

Welllll, that's the official story. The real story might be somewhat different. Take the End of Life Notice for SQL Anywhere Version 9.0.x for example; it said the "End of Engineering Support" was coming on January 31, 2010.

And it did... sort of... on September 22, 2010 (almost eight months after End of Life) an EBF for 9.0.2 was released:

SQL Anywhere - Express Bug Fix, Update of 9.0.2 to build 3951 - 9.0.2 - 22 Sep 2010 - EBF/Patch

But no, you can't expect any EBFs after the End of Life date. What you probably can expect is "One Last EBF" right before End of Life, like the one released less than three weeks before the End of Life deadline for 9.0.2:

SQL Anywhere Studio - Express Bug Fix, Update of 9.0.2 to build 3924 (all components) - 9.0.2 - 07 Jan 2010 - EBF/Patch

Life After Death

The "End of Engineering Support" does not mean the "End of Technical Support"... it doesn't even mean the "End Of Technical Support by Engineering".

You will still be able to get your Version 10 questions answered after January 25, 2012... just like you can still get your Version 5.5 questions answered today.

It just means if you step on a bug in Version 9.0.2 after that date, you probably won't get a fix. A workaround, maybe, but not a fix.