I havent posted in this thread yet, and frankly I'm rather impressed with myself because of it. There have been too many places where I could have dragged the maturity level to a new low, but I havent. I do have to post now, though, because I have an interesting take on the whole thing.
Here goes:
HS1.7 was released about 2 years ago. (this is nothing but a supporting statement)
Windows 98 was released in the fall of 1997. If in 1999, Microsoft would have made an announcement to the effect of "Hey in 5 months we'll no longer let you update, and we will no longer support windows 98, GO BUY WINDOWS ME AHAHAHAHA." The entire IT would would have revolted. Hell, the entire windows using world would have revolted. Why? Because 98 worked just fine, and ME just did not work as well (to put it mildly). Instead, microsoft has continued to offer the downloads for windows 98 as well as support for nearly 10 years.
Microsoft is a little different than HST you may say.
I can still get support for Norton AntiVirus 2000, and a brand new version of NAV costs 30 bucks.
In my mind, when you already have the infrastructure to at least continue offering downloads for any product, you do it. Microsoft has ended support for 98, but I can still get updates up to 7/06. If you try to take away the free will of the people who CHOOSE to buy your product and support your company by FORCING them to buy a new version, they WILL go elsewhere as soon as they can. Why? Because they work hard for the money, and if you try to get it from them in underhanded ways, they will refuse.
While there are issues with 2.x level HS, you cannot expect people who demand five-nines to switch to it.
Explain to me where I'm wrong, if I am. And if I am not, take it as a lesson.