Groove 3.1 End of Life

We received the formal notification from Microsoft of the End of Life for Groove 3.1 software products.

Within the next year, Microsoft will release the next version of the Microsoft Office Suite and at that time support for Groove 3.1 Software products will end.

Our goal in this initial communication is to provide you with information that will help you understand the details regarding End of Life for Groove 3.1 software products and to outline the available options for upgrading to current supported products prior to Groove 3.1 End of Life.

The following information on Groove 3.1 End of Life has been posted under KB http://support.microsoft.com/kb/974478

If you have any questions on this information, please post them to the Groove Discussion Group: http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.groove

Support information for Groove Virtual Office 3.1 and related products and services.

The upcoming release of Microsoft Office 2010 will include the second successor product to Groove Virtual Office 3.1 and the 3.1 Groove servers, which were acquired by Microsoft in 2005. In keeping with the support policy of the acquired company, Groove Networks, support for these products will be discontinued at that time.  Groove 3.1 products will not have the two years of Extended Support offered for Microsoft products after the second successor product release. Additionally, at the end of Mainstream Support, some services related to these products will no longer be available.

This article outlines the options that are available to you to transition to a supported product or to continue with your current product. As always, Microsoft recommends that you keep your software updated to the latest version. This ensures that you will have access to fixes and updates while you and your company benefit from the latest technologies.

You have 3 Options:

(from the KB 974478 article)

My Groove Account pages

You will be unable to use a My Groove Account page to access your previously purchased Groove 3.1 licenses or to manage users.

Hosted Management Services 3.1

Hosted Management Services subscriptions will not be renewed. Management Server Hosted Services will be migrated to a virtual server. However, these services will not be monitored, and software fixes to resolve any customer issues will not be considered or implemented.

Transition options

Groove Virtual Office 3.1

If you have a Groove Virtual Office installation that was never part of a managed Groove domain, you have the following migration options:

• Purchase Microsoft Office Groove 2007 or Microsoft Office Groove Enterprise 2007 now, and then upgrade to the successor product, Microsoft Office SharePoint Workspace 2010, when it becomes available.
• Purchase SharePoint Workspace 2010 when it becomes available, uninstall Groove Virtual Office 3.1, and then install SharePoint Workspace 2010. You will be unable to upgrade from Groove Virtual Office 3.1 to the Microsoft Office 2010 successor product. You can save your account from Groove Virtual Office 3.1, and then restore it to SharePoint Workspace 2010. However, you will lose all other Groove data. SharePoint Workspace 2010 does not support Groove 3.1 workspaces. For better preservation of data, consider upgrading to Groove 2007.
• Continue to use your installation of Groove Virtual Office 3.1. The product will continue to function, except as previously noted. You should be aware that this option will leave you without the ability to update the product. This includes security updates and updates to run on Windows 7. This option will also leave you without assisted support.

Hosted Management Services 3.1

If you use Hosted Management Services 3.1 to manage a Groove domain, you have the following migration options:

• Migrate from Hosted Management Services to Groove Server 2007 now, and then migrate to the successor product, Microsoft Office Groove Server 2010, when it becomes available. If you use this option, you have to maintain both Microsoft Office Groove Manager and Microsoft Office Groove Relay.
• Transition from Hosted Management Services to Groove Server 2010 when it becomes available. Then, re-create your Groove domain. If you use this option, you have to maintain both Groove Manager and Groove Relay.
• Continue to use Hosted Management Services 3.1 as an unsupported service. For more information, see the "

Groove Enterprise Management Server 3.1 and Groove Enterprise Relay Server 3.1

If you use Groove Management Server 3.1 to manage a Groove domain, you have the following migration options:

• Transition from Groove Enterprise Management Server 3.1 and Groove Enterprise Relay Server 3.1 to Groove Server 2007 now, and then migrate to Groove Server 2010 when it becomes available. If you use this option, you have to maintain both Groove Manager and Groove Relay.
• Transition from Groove Enterprise Management Server 3.1 and Groove Enterprise Relay Server 3.1 to Groove Server 2010 when it becomes available. Then, re-create your Groove domain. If you use this option, you have to maintain both Groove Manager and Groove Relay.
• Continue to use Groove Enterprise Management Server 3.1 and Groove Enterprise Relay Server 3.1. If you use this option, you will maintain access to all domain accounts, and you will continue to be able manage those accounts. You should be aware that this option will leave you without the ability to update the products. This includes security updates. This option will also leave you without assisted support.

Note You will be unable to migrate from Groove Enterprise Management Server 3.1 directly to Groove Server 2010. To migrate your Groove domain data, you must first install Groove Server 2007. If you uninstall Groove Enterprise Management Server 3.1 and then install Groove Server 2010 to replace it, you have to re-create your Groove domain.