The Dynamics CRM team at Microsoft just released some videos about Dynamics CRM 5.0 (V.Next) from the recent Professional Developers Conference (PDC)

CRM “5″: Chatting with the platform team

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/benriga/CRM-5-Chatting-with-the-platform-team/

CRM “5″: Deploying Line-Of-Business Solutions

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/benriga/CRM-5-Deploying-Line-Of-Business-Solutions/

CRM “5” – Secure Code on the Server

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/benriga/CRM-5–Secure-Code-on-the-Server/

Microsoft Dynamics CRM: The Appealing Business Application

http://channel9.msdn.com/pdc2008/BB08/

Microsoft Dynamics CRM: Building Line-of-Business Applications

http://channel9.msdn.com/pdc2008/BB32/

Users always want to save as much time as possible. I’ve found that most users know Cut, Copy, and Paste (CTRL+X, CTRL+C, CTRL+V) but usually don’t know there are a bunch of keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. Here are a few:

General Shortcuts

• Copy text = CTRL+C
• Paste text = CTRL+V
• Undo previous text change = CTRL+Z
• Save a record = CTRL+S
• Close a record = CTRL+F4
• Cut text = CTRL+X
• Delete text = DELETE
• Delete text without putting it on the Clipboard = SHIFT+DELETE
• Move the insertion point to the start of the next word = CTRL+RIGHT ARROW
• Move the insertion point to the start of the previous word = CTRL+LEFT ARROW
• Select all text in the current field = CTRL+A
• Display the System menu for the active window = ALT+SPACEBAR
• Move forward through the form’s fields = TAB
• Move backward through the form’s fields = SHIFT+TAB
• Display the shortcut menu for the selected item = SHIFT+F10
• Display the corresponding menu = ALT + the key for the underlined letter in the menu name
• Cancel the current task or command, or close a selected list or dialog box = ESC
• Move up through a list of records = UP ARROW
• Move down through a list of records = DOWN ARROW
• Expand or collapse the preview in a list view = SPACEBAR
• Open the selected record = ENTER
• Select all records on the current page = CTRL+A

Dialog Box Shortcuts

• Move to the next option or option group = TAB
• Move to the previous option or option group = SHIFT+TAB
• Complete the command for the active option or button = ENTER
• Move between options in an open list, or between options in a group of options = ARROW keys
• Cancel a command, or close a selected list or dialog box = ESC
• Auto-complete lookup fields such as Primary Contact = Type a couple letters and CTRL+K

Form Shortcuts

• Save = CTRL+S or SHIFT+F12
• Save and close = ALT+S
• Expand or collapse Form Assistant = CTRL+SHIFT+F
• Cancel edits and close (Close) = ESC
• Delete the record = CTRL+D
• Save and then open a new form (Save and New) = CTRL+SHIFT+S

Looks like Microsoft is getting pretty creative with their marketing.

“The MasterCard® Easy Savings Program is a convenient savings program for MasterCard BusinessCard credit and signature debit cardholders. Through an alliance with Microsoft, Easy Savings members enjoy rebates on small business solutions purchased from Microsoft with your MasterCard Business credit and/or signature debit card. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online delivers small businesses a fast, flexible and familiar customer relationship management solution.”

http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/products/dynamics-customer-relationship-management/mastercard/#overview

Microsoft has been gradually releasing Accelerators for Dynamics CRM 4.0. They just made the E-Service Portal available for download.

Newly Released

• E-Service Portal: A configurable self-service portal for enhanced customer service through Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

 Currently Available

• Extended Sales Forecasting: Enhanced sales forecasting mechanism for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.
• CRM Notifications: Newsfeeds (RSS) that allow users to subscribe to CRM “events” relevant to their job role.
• Event Management: New functionality to plan, create, execute, and review events.

Available Soon

• Analytics: Extends business intelligence for Microsoft Dynamics CRM by delivering sales, service and operations dashboards.
• Enterprise Search: Rapidly configure portal views of CRM data within SharePoint (MOSS) and expose this data to MOSS enterprise search.
• Business Productivity: A collection of time-saving productivity customizations for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
• Sales Methodologies: Practical Guidance for adoption of third-party sales methodologies such as SPI Solution Selling, Target Account Selling (TAS) and Miller Heiman)

Update Rollup 1 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is now available for download on Microsoft’s website at:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=57C6267B-3B13-49DD-BFED-3CC83633AEA7&displaylang=en

It’s a software update that contains a quite a few individual updates and hotfixes that resolve issues with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Here’s more detail on what Update Rollup 1 includes:

http://support.microsoft.com/Kb/952858

This update can be uninstalled but it’s a good idea that you first do a full backup and also consider deploying it to your test environment before installing it in your production environment.