Hi,
The Catalyst 6500-E series chassis have no End of Life announced for them at this point in time, but a number of components e.g., Supervisor Engines, I/O modules etc., do have End of Life announcements now released. You can find the full list on the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches End-of-Life and End-of-Sale Notices page.
Cisco will typically provide 6-months from an announcement to the End of Sale date i.e., the last date the product can be purchased. The actual End of Support date is typically 5 years beyond the End of Sale date, but this can vary.
The question of whether the Catalyst 6800 will be a direct replacement for the Catalyst 6500 is difficult to say. The Catalyst 6500 has been a very successful platform and is deployed in numerous networks and scenarios. I think that whether the Catalyst 6800 will fit into all of those situations is something that would need to be reviewed on a case by case basis.
Regards
