There are several new technology releases being marketed this spring that have the potential to impact Dynamics SL – in a positive way. These releases include Windows Server 2008 (code-named “Longhorn”), Windows Vista Service Pack 1, Windows XP Service Pack 3 and SQL Server 2008 (code-named “Katmai”). In this article we take a look at each one as it pertains to Dynamics SL.

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 – This is the client edition of Vista which will include sustained engineering fixes since it was initially released last year around this time. It is recommended that customers apply this service pack to their client machines if they are using Dynamics SL, as it provides the latest updates to ensure data security is maintained.

Windows XP Service Pack 3 – This is the third service pack for Windows XP. It contains all sustained engineering fixes and security updates previously included in service packs 1 and 2, plus some out-of-band releases such as Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0 and Microsoft Core XML Services 6.0 (MSXML). You will notice updates to Internet Explorer 6.0 and Internet Explorer 7.0 are also included. When the service pack is installed, the appropriate IE files will be installed, based on the version currently on your machine. For more details, refer to Microsoft’s white paper at:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=68c48dad-bc34-40be-8d85-6bb4f56f5110&displaylang=en#filelist

Windows Server 2008 is the server side equivalent of Windows Vista. Microsoft has a full campaign announced for training opportunities focused on this technology. You can find details about these opportunities within the Partner Program or you can refer to Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008 site at:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsserver/longhorn/evaluate/whitepaper.mspx?wt.svl=globalhighlight  

SQL Server 2008 is the latest data management and business intelligence platform. It allows you to maintain trusted database security, increase your productivity and make well-informed decisions. The trusted database security functionality protects data from fraudulent access attempts and allows the database to scale in a predictable manner, whether the data volume is small or large. The variety of tools contained in SQL Server 2008 enable policy- based data management, faster development and supports the ADO.NET framework. Companies can make better, more well-informed decisions with the ability to have insight into the data through business intelligence and reporting capabilities that can push data to Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. For more details on SQL Server 2008, go to: www.microsoft.com/sql/2008/default.mspx

All of these technologies are compatible with Dynamics SL (or we expect they will be). Beyond the technology benefits that Dynamics SL leverages, you should take a look at the new functionality in these releases to see if/how you can leverage the new features in your solutions. Sometimes even a small enhancement can make the life of a partner/ISV much better because it creates opportunities that did not previously exist.