6.0

NavStudent

I'm little confused about 6.0.

Is this basically 5.1, just delayed?
Nuno Maia mentioned it's a complete redesign of navision.
http://dynamicsuser.net/blogs/waldo/archive/2007/10/11/new-release-date-for-microsoft-dynamics-nav-5-1.aspx

Or this this something they had mentioned in statement of direction? which is

In addition, another goal with future Microsoft Dynamics NAV versions will be to take advantage of the new Microsoft Dynamics development environment while continuing to focus on our core development principle of simplicity. Here we aim to help increase the productivity of developers with state-of-the-art development tools and best-of-breed processes so partners and ISVs can continue to take advantage of its unique flexibility to design, build and sell customized and vertical solutions for businesses around the world. Plus, we will keep on providing partners and customers with leading edge technology. This will mean gradually phasing out the Microsoft Dynamics NAV C/SIDE database and eventually moving to one client – the Microsoft Dynamics NAV roles-based client – and one database – Microsoft SQL server.

Are they going to implement new features and Enhanced Application Functionality, like Quality control in inventory. Like puttings items on hold.

thank you.

Marije_Brummel

It is 5.1. No extra's.

Just more stable.

NavStudent

They were showing demo's of it half a year ago.
So they are taking 1.5 years to stabilize the software they’ve built for 2 years?
Either they have written some really bad code, or they did not know what they were doing and making changes as they were developing it, and now they’ve run into a problem and have to make further changes. Or they don’t have the right tools to test, and they are testing it manually.
MS usually releases beta version to specific group to test them for them. It’s a lot cheaper and they get a lot of results back.

kine

NavStudent wrote:

They were showing demo's of it half a year ago.
So they are taking 1.5 years to stabilize the software they’ve built for 2 years?
Either they have written some really bad code, or they did not know what they were doing and making changes as they were developing it, and now they’ve run into a problem and have to make further changes. Or they don’t have the right tools to test, and they are testing it manually.
MS usually releases beta version to specific group to test them for them. It’s a lot cheaper and they get a lot of results back.

That you saw the demo doesn't mean that the product is finished and ready to release. I saw some demo, and after that I found out that it was just prerecorded screenshots done in some editor...

And if you are doing such a big changes, sometime you will found that there is small problems, which is too big in a result...

nunomaia

When I mention complete redesign I has talking about the new features mention in statement of direction.
Moving to reporting services, Web Services. Business logic being moved from Client tier to Middle Tier, etc
Main goal for NAV 5.1 has to have a new client not having major features in business logic.

Navision is a good product that fulfils most requirements of customers. Most ERP applications aren't based in latest technologies. It’s preferable to have a solid product with old technology then having a unreliable product in new technology.
I have seen many applications in AS/400 working trough telnet in that old green screens. Most of those customers are sill happy with their applications because are quite solid.

Redesigning a new client application takes time to have good quality.

Waldo

Indeed. It's just that same focus then before, just a new name.

I guess you can compare it with going from DOS to Windows... . Completely redesign of the client architecture... even now going to three tier, ... .

I'm a bit surprised though there is nothing on the Dynamics NAV Team Blog .

NavStudent

Maybe Nobody has told yet.

Darren_Laybourn

Waldo wrote:

Indeed. It's just that same focus then before, just a new name.

I guess you can compare it with going from DOS to Windows... . Completely redesign of the client architecture... even now going to three tier, ... .

I'm a bit surprised though there is nothing on the Dynamics NAV Team Blog .

We did announce the rename from 5.1 to 6.0 on the NAV team blog. As stated by others earlier in the thread, the scope has not changed for the release. We did extend it to allow more time for stabilization and to more importantly to allow more time to get feedback from partners on the release. We are have just released the bits to over 50 ISV's and will be doing a workship in a few weeks with all of them to work on using the product.

Just this past week we also did significant work on converting an existing partner solution and had good success. Good meaning that we made it quite a ways, and that we found a number of issues we could address for future conversions by other products.

Finally we have added a TAP program to the release cycle and we plan to have a few customers live on the running bits before we ship in Q4 of 2008.

This is a big release and a big change. New UI, move to 3 Tier, new Reporting with SRS, broad web service support, managed code execution environment, with the same great RAD developer experience.

As somebody else stated "NAV is a great product" it is our commitment to make sure we get it right.

Waldo

Darren Laybourn wrote:

Waldo wrote:

Indeed. It's just that same focus then before, just a new name.

I guess you can compare it with going from DOS to Windows... . Completely redesign of the client architecture... even now going to three tier, ... .

I'm a bit surprised though there is nothing on the Dynamics NAV Team Blog .

We did announce the rename from 5.1 to 6.0 on the NAV team blog.

It was indeed announced on the Team Blog ... but I wrote that post about 5 days before ... .

Eugene

"Business logic being moved from Client tier to Middle Tier" is what our local Microsoft center was telling about Nav 6.0
But here in forums i was told that Nav 6.0 client will not be a thin client.

I am kind of lost what to think here about Nav 6.0 then...

Waldo

The business logic will be moved to the middle tier (MS calls it the "service tier").

But that doesn't mean the thin client is as thin as expected. Some small things still have to be done on the client ... .
If I remember correctly, this counts for small validations like dates, filters, ... .

Marije_Brummel

In Vedbaek they use the term "Less Fat Client".

Navision has taken a diet and facelift.

ara3n

So now we have a fat service tier?

garak

Does somebody know how the new version will store the objects?
Its the same procedure like we know it (storing in table Object) or will M$ change this?

Waldo

It will be the same (afaik )

garak

mhm :-( i afraid it.

Waldo

Why?
Version Control?

garak

why? Importing Tables from outside of navision. OK Forms, Codeunits, etc i can store into object Table with using replication (Publisching Database -> Subscrition database). But Tables :-( So, i'ved hoped, m$ changed this.
So, i'm looking to project Mallorca which will released in 2010 or later ...

Waldo

OK.

Personally, I would like to have a better way to control versions... .

garak

Why? Whats there your problem?

Waldo

Just a system to manage versions.

Like when you're writing an addon, you have multiple versions or maybe even branches of the add on.

Or just, when doing development at a customer, you can have the go-live version and stuff.

I like the Axapta way, here you have the MS version, the Localized version .. and where it's even possible to combine multiple localisations... .

garak

mhm, thats right. This is, still, an problem.

gaspode

Darren Laybourn wrote:

Waldo wrote:

Indeed. It's just that same focus then before, just a new name.

I guess you can compare it with going from DOS to Windows... . Completely redesign of the client architecture... even now going to three tier, ... .

I'm a bit surprised though there is nothing on the Dynamics NAV Team Blog .

We did announce the rename from 5.1 to 6.0 on the NAV team blog. As stated by others earlier in the thread, the scope has not changed for the release. We did extend it to allow more time for stabilization and to more importantly to allow more time to get feedback from partners on the release. We are have just released the bits to over 50 ISV's and will be doing a workship in a few weeks with all of them to work on using the product.

Just this past week we also did significant work on converting an existing partner solution and had good success. Good meaning that we made it quite a ways, and that we found a number of issues we could address for future conversions by other products.

Finally we have added a TAP program to the release cycle and we plan to have a few customers live on the running bits before we ship in Q4 of 2008.

This is a big release and a big change. New UI, move to 3 Tier, new Reporting with SRS, broad web service support, managed code execution environment, with the same great RAD developer experience.

As somebody else stated "NAV is a great product" it is our commitment to make sure we get it right.

Hi Darren, it's great to see someone from the actual product team making posts in the public domain. What I don't understand is why you do not release the NAV "6.0" product to all partners available as a download via partnersource. Surely the more people get to work with this, the better the product is going to be.

I realise the release date is going to be Q1 this year for a technology preview but why not give us what you have now? In the past I have signed up for a couple of other Microsoft beta product and CTP product releases via the connect web site and it seems odd that NAV would follow a different route. It seems a shame that 50 partners have been specially selected to provide feedback on the product. What about the rest of us?