Archive for Sep 2010
Update Rollup 13 for Dynamics CRM 4
Microsoft have just released Dynamics CRM 4 update rollup 13. You can read more about it on the official blog and download it here. They mention that the rollup contains fixes for some high impact Internet Explorer 9 issues which will come as a relief for many!
Internet Explorer 9 – First Impressions
I’ve just downloaded and installed the public beta of the next version of Internet Explorer, IE9 and wanted to share my first impressions.
Once installed, the first noticeable difference is how minimal the interface has become. The address bar and tabs section seem to take up roughly 66% less screen space, since the address bar, search box and tabs are now all located on the same row. As I usually have a lot of pages open, I didn’t think I’d like the repositioning of the tabs, but it really hasn’t caused me any problems.
The next thing I noticed is the speed. It really flies. Microsoft have added GPU acceleration to IE9, so a lot of image rendering is now performed by your graphics card rather than your CPU.
Another great new feature, is the ability to add web shortcuts to your taskbar. You just drag the favicon from the address bar to your taskbar to create a shortcut. This is great if you want quick access to applications such as your email and it really feels like you’re launching an app rather than a browser.
Upgrading a CRM 4 Organisation to Dynamics CRM 2011
I’ve posted another short video, showing how easy it is to upgrade a Dynamics CRM 4 organisation to Dynamics CRM 2011.
The steps involved were: –
- Backup current CRM 4 organisation
- Restore the database to the SQL server hosting the other CRM organisations
- Use the Deployment Manage import wizard
- Map any users that exist in the organisation to Active Directory accounts. If you are restoring to a server in the same domain, auto mapping users should work fine
- Run the import
- Log in and test
I did this using the all in one virtual server I had set up previously, which is proving to be a great little training ground!
Dynamics CRM 2011 Solutions
Another nice new feature of Dynamics CRM 2011 is the ability to create solutions. A solution is a way to package up your CRM business application into an easy to manage and deploy package.
To create a solution, first you must give it a name, select a publisher and give it a version number. A publisher typically contains the details of the ISV which will be listing an application in the Dynamics Marketplace. Versioning is method of determining whether you are running the most up to date solution inside your CRM 2011 system. Read the rest of this entry »
Dynamics CRM 2011 Dashboards
The new real-time dashboards in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, finally brings Dynamics CRM reporting in line with the competition.
Dashboards are likely to be the new favourite feature among business and sales users who enjoy looking at pretty charts with lines pointing the right way. More importantly, they offer a powerful way to view and analyse business performance based on real-time statistics. Read the rest of this entry »
Dynamics CRM 2011 beta setup
I’ve created a short video guide for setting up the Dynamics CRM 2011 on-premise beta. I installed all of the services on to the same virtual machine, so some of the things done will not reflect best practices. The whole installation (excluding Windows setup and updates) took took just over an hour but I’ve tried to cut as many of the progress bars as possible.
Before I started recording, I installed Windows Server 2008 with SP2 and all available updates. I also turned off UAC and the Windows firewall.
If the video below does not work, please try here. Be sure to watch it in full screen HD, otherwise the quality is not great.
CRM 2011 Beta
The official Dynamics CRM 2011 beta website has just been put live. Head on over to http://offers.crmchoice.com/CRM2011Beta-Landing and register for the official software download and beta forums.
There are also a lot of demo videos to give you an overview of the new features. I’m really looking forward to the new dashboards and can’t wait to get started with the beta!
Edit: The download page is here
Neil McDonald's Dynamics 365 Blog 