Support Policy

Phone, email, and online support is available for the current release of the product and for one year after it is no longer commercially distributed. This service includes assistance with installation and deployment, maintenance releases, licensing, use of the software and interpretation of the output. Our web-based applications, Companion and Quality Trainer, include support as well as automatic maintenance updates during the term of the license. Download the latest version of our products now at http://www.minitab.com/downloads/.

Product	Released	Support End Date	Environments Supported
Minitab 17.x	18-Feb-2014	07-June-2018 *Note: Limited licensing support only past this date	7 SP1, 8, 8.1, 10 (17.3 only)
Minitab 18.x	07-June-2017	TBD	7 SP1 or later, 8, 8.1, 10
Express 1.5.x	18-May-2016	TBD	Windows: 7 SP1, 8, 8.1, 10 Mac: 10.10, 10.11, 10.12
Companion 5.x	19-April-2017	TBD	7, 8, 8.1, 10
SPM 8.x	1-March-2016	TBD	Windows: 7 SP1 or later, 8, 8.1, 10 (SPM 8.3 -64 bit only) Linux: Ubuntu 14.04, 16.04, CentOS 6.9, 7.5, RHEL 6.9, 7.5

TBD = To be determined

*The Support End Date in the table above references when customers will no longer receive full software support with use of the software, interpretation of output, installation, and licensing help. In some cases, Minitab Technical Support will provide limited licensing support for an additional period past the Support End Date as described above.

Statistical Consulting

If you need assistance using a statistical tool or understanding the output generated by the software, our technical support team can help. However, if you need help choosing an appropriate statistical tool for your project or interpreting the output relative to your process, you need the personalized support available through our Statistical Consulting service.

To help clarify the differences between technical support and statistical consulting, consider the following examples:

Technical Support Questions

How do I create a fractional factorial design in Minitab?

What does the number of distinct categories mean in the Gage R&R output, and how is it calculated?

When I analyze my data using regression, I get an error. What does the error mean?

Statistical Consulting Questions

Should I create a fractional factorial design for my project?

I have four distinct categories, according to my Gage R&R output. Is this acceptable?

Should I use regression to analyze my data?

In some cases, our technical support staff may provide assistance with statistical concepts as part of answering a question about software use. But questions that are clearly about statistical concepts are referred to our statistical consultants, all of whom are seasoned statisticians with years of quality improvement experience.