Cisco has announced the plan to discontinue the Cisco PIX. After July 2008, PIX will no longer be available for purchase, with accessories sales ending in January 2009. Cisco will continue to honor only existing support contracts after July 2009, and will honor those commitments until 2013.

Models on the chopping block include: Cisco PIX 501, PIX 506E, PIX 515E, PIX 525, and PIX 535.

Why? Even though many network admins would say "mine gets the job done." Cisco says there is a greater need to support Payment Card Industry Data Security, HIPAA, and SOX standards and the PIX doesn't cut it like their new ASA device does.

Rumor has it that the biggest complaint is that the Java-based user interface (PDM) doesn't play nicely or at all with the latest Java virtual machine. (Cisco doesn't make any mention of this).