AWS kicked off its mega re:Invent shindig this week by targeting panic-stricken Windows Server 2008 users with a service to “future proof” their applications running on the soon to be dead OS.

Microsoft is due to end support for Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 in January, and AWS rightly suggests that having apps that can run only on on the venerable, but soon to be ex operating system is “problematic”.

Its answer is “AWS End-of-Support Migration Program (EMP) for Windows Server” which it promises will combine “technology with expert guidance, to migrate your legacy applications running on outdated versions of Windows Server to newer, supported versions on AWS.”

More to the point, AWS promises, “you don’t need to make a single code change in the legacy application and you also do not require the original installation media or source code.”

The technology part of the platform “identifies the dependencies that your application has on the outdated OS, and creates a package that includes the resources necessary for the application to run on the newer version of Windows Server. “

However, you will require the help of an AWS Partner or Professional Services to handle the migration, as there are “manual configuration adjustments” needed, as well as “in-depth knowledge and experience.” Which feels reassuringly old-school, doesn’t it?

AWS is not alone in spotting the potential for helping Windows Server 2008 customers out of a hole, and on to its platform. Docker last year launched its own Windows Server Application migration programme, promising to bundle up Windows Server 2008 and ever 2003 apps into containers, which could then run on modern versions of the OS. At the time, it seemed a savvy way for the container company to actually produce a revenue. But, given its recent breakup, clearly not quite enough.

At the same time, AWS has launched a bring your own license “experience for Windows Server and SQL Server.

“The new BYOL experience launched today enables those customers who want to use their existing Windows Server or SQL Server licenses to seamlessly create virtual machines in EC2, while AWS takes care of managing their licenses to help ensure compliance to licensing rules specified by the customer,” it promised.

“Previously, when bringing their own server-bound licenses, customers needed to write additional automation to manage capacity, and ensure effective utilization of the dedicated hosts that are required for BYOL. This process made managing hosts non-EC2 like, and certainly unlike the simple and easy-to-use experience when using licenses provided by AWS.”

Of course, Windows Server and SQL Server users might expect that using their licenses would be even easier on a Microsoft owned cloud platform, but then again that could be “non-EC2 like”.