I totally understand this action by HCL . they should not spend time on supporting OS software that is over 6 years old .

Well, Windows Server 2016 gets security updates until 2027. In addition it is unusual to cancel OS support for a point release (12.0.2). Domino 13 would have been a much better target.

I would not be surprised if in the long run Domino would be container only anyway (as the leftover from Sametime already is).

This has been discussed during early access/code drop time of Domino 12.0.2.

Mainstream support for Windows 2016 has ended --> https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-server-2016

There is no known technical reason, why Domino 12.0.2 should not run on Windows 2016.

I would really like to understand where you got that information.

There is a support statement, which indirectly applies also to Windows 2016.

https://support.hcltechsw.com/csm?id=kb_article&sys_id=964f28c81b7dc85477761fc58d4bcbfc

Technically Domino 12.0.2 has been released after Windows 2016 mainstream support already ended.

But HCL Domino product management confirmed, HCL will handle Windows 2016 in the same way.

Migrating Domino and Windows at the same time can be tricky.

But for most customers Windows 2016 OS level support has already ended.

Today most environments are running virtual and updating Domino and the OS and Domino at the same time, isn't that complicated anymore.

As long as the OS team already supports a newer Windows version.

Personally I would move all servers to Windows 2022 sooner than later.

@Henning, there will be no Domino V13. The next release is Domino V14, as already listed as the next scheduled release in the HCL fixlist database.

For Domino V14 it is already announced that OS level, compiler support and the JVM will be updated.

Only supporting Domino as a container is a more than wild speculation!

This would imply Domino would only run on Linux in future. Container support in Windows is very limited (I looked into it and it only makes sense for testing and automation testing.. but that's a different story).

Domino has a long history of cross platform support. And you can expect the same type of platform support in Domino V14+.

Moving to a purely container based deployment for Sametime has a reason and makes deployment much easier.

Domino installation and configuration has been just improved with OneTouch Setup in Domino 12.x cross platform.

-- Daniel

I only speculate to get such an informative answer from, in this case, Daniel Nashed.

Great explanation. Thank you.

I do not agree on the Sametime part but anyway this post is about Domino.