Two-year release cycle

z/OS® V1R13 was the last z/OS release that IBM® delivered on an annual basis. The annual release cycle started in September 2004 with the general availability of z/OS V1R6. Before V1R6, a new release was delivered every six months. Starting with z/OS V2R1, IBM now delivers a z/OS release every two years.

The change from a 12-month to a 24-month release cycle was announced in April 2012 and was in response to customer feedback that the 12-month release cycle was too short and that it complicated customer migration plans. Two year releases, in addition to benefiting customers, allow IBM to perform more platform (integration) testing for z/OS and related IBM middleware. With two-year releases IBM continues to align the coexistence, migration, and fallback policy with the service policy. (See Which releases are supported for coexistence, fallback, and migration?.)

New z/OS functions continue to be delivered between releases through the normal maintenance stream or as web deliverables. In addition, significant new functions may be delivered between releases as features of the product. For a summary of web deliverables and between-release features, see Table 1. Note that full releases (as opposed to enhancements) are highlighted

Table 1. z/OS deliverables from September 2002 through September 2013
Deliverable	General availability	Delivery method
*z/OS V1R4* and *z/OS.e V1R4*	27 September 2002	New release of products
z/OS V1R4 z990 Compatibility Support. This deliverable is replaced by z/OS V1R4 z990 Exploitation Support.	June 2003	Unpriced feature of z/OS V1R4
z990 Compatibility for Selected Releases (for z/OS V1R3, z/OS.e V1R3, z/OS V1R2, and OS/390® V2R10)	June 2003	Web
z990 Cryptographic CP Assist Support (for z/OS V1R3 and z/OS.e V1R3). This deliverable is replaced by z990 Cryptographic Support, which in turn is replaced by z990 and z890 Enhancements to Cryptographic Support.	June 2003	Web
z/OS.e V1R4 z990 Coexistence. This deliverable is replaced by z/OS.e V1R4 z990 Coexistence Update.	June 2003	Unpriced feature of z/OS.e V1R4
z/OS V1R4 DFSMStvs and z/OS.e V1R4 DFSMStvs	June 2003	Priced features of z/OS V1R4 and z/OS.e V1R4
z990 Cryptographic Support (for z/OS V1R4, z/OS.e V1R4, z/OS V1R3, z/OS.e V1R3, z/OS V1R2, and OS/390 V2R10). This deliverable replaces z990 Cryptographic CP Assist Support, and is replaced by z990 and z890 Enhancements to Cryptographic Support.	September 2003 for z/OS V1R4, z/OS.e V1R4, and z/OS V1R2; October 2003 for z/OS V1R3 and z/OS.e V1R3; November 2003 for OS/390 V2R10	Web
z/OS V1R4 z990 Exploitation Support. This deliverable replaces z/OS V1R4 z990 Compatibility Support.	October 2003	Unpriced feature of z/OS V1R4
z/OS.e V1R4 z990 Coexistence Update. This deliverable replaces z/OS.e V1R4 z990 Coexistence.	October 2003	Unpriced feature of z/OS.e V1R4
z/OS V1R4 Consoles Enhancements and z/OS.e V1R4 Consoles Enhancements	March 2004	Unpriced features of z/OS V1R4 and z/OS.e V1R4
*z/OS V1R5* and *z/OS.e V1R5*	March 2004	New release of products
z990 and z890 Enhancements to Cryptographic Support (for z/OS V1R6, z/OS.e V1R6, z/OS V1R5, z/OS.e V1R5, z/OS V1R4, z/OS.e V1R4, z/OS V1R3, z/OS.e V1R3, z/OS V1R2, and OS/390 V2R10). This deliverable replaces both z990 Cryptographic CP Assist Support and z990 Cryptographic Support.	May 2004 except September 2004 for z/OS V1R6 and z/OS.e V1R6	Web
*z/OS V1R6* and *z/OS.e V1R6* Note: Annual releases begin.	September 2004	New release of products
z/OS and z/OS.e Text Search. This deliverable supports z/OS V1R6 and z/OS.e V1R6, and later.	September 2004	Web
LDAP Enhancements for z/OS V1R4/R5 and z/OS.e V1R4/R5	November 2004	Web
ICSF 64-bit Virtual Support for z/OS V1R6 and z/OS.e V1R6	December 2004	Web
Cryptographic Support for z/OS V1R6/R7 and z/OS.e V1R6/R7 (contains ICSF FMID HCR7730)	September 2005	Web
IBM Health Checker for V1R4/R5/R6 of z/OS and z/OS.e	September 2005	Web
*z/OS V1R7* and *z/OS.e V1R7*	September 2005	New release of products
Enhancements to Cryptographic Support for z/OS and z/OS.e V1R6/R7 (contains ICSF FMID HCR7731)	May 2006	Web
IBM zIIP Support for z/OS and z/OS.e V1R6/R7	June 2006	Web
*z/OS V1R8* and *z/OS.e V1R8*	September 2006	New release of products (Note: final release of z/OS.e)
System REXX Support for z/OS V1R8 and z/OS.e V1R8	September 2007	Web
*z/OS V1R9*	September 2007	New release of product
Cryptographic Support for z/OS V1R7-R9 and z/OS.e V1R7-R8 (contains ICSF FMID HCR7750)	November 2007	Web
*z/OS V1R10*	September 2008	New release of product
Cryptographic Support for z/OS V1R8-R10 and z/OS.e V1R8 (contains ICSF FMID HCR7751)	November 2008	Web
*z/OS V1R11*	September 2009	New release of product
Cryptographic Support for z/OS V1R9-R11 (contains ICSF FMID HCR7770)	November 2009	Web
*z/OS V1R12*	September 2010	New release of product
Cryptographic Support for z/OS V1R10-R12 (contains ICSF FMID HCR7780)	September 2010	Web
*z/OS V1R13*	September 2011	New release of product
Cryptographic Support for z/OS V1R11-R13 (contains ICSF FMID HCR7790)	September 2011	Web
Cryptographic Support for z/OS V1R12-R13 (contains ICSF FMID HCR77A0)	September 2012	Web
z/OS V1R13 RSM Enablement Offering	December 14, 2012	Web
Cryptographic Support for z/OS V1R13 - z/OS V2R1 (contains ICSF FMID HCR77A1)	September 2013	Web
z/OS V2R1	September 2013	New release of product

The statements regarding the release strategy represent current intentions of IBM. Any reliance on these statements is at the relying party's sole risk and will not create any liability or obligation for IBM. All statements regarding IBM plans, directions, and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice.