With the upcoming release of SAP Business One 10.0 end of 2019, SAP is planning various changes.

The most important for B1 Usability Package are the following 2 changes:

1. SAP Business One 10.0 will only be offered as a 64-bit Client
2. SAP Business One 10.0 will no longer offer Browser Access

With these major changes from SAP, we also thought it was time to evaluate our support of various features in the B1 Usability Package; So here are the planned 6 changes for the 2020 releases:

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1. There will be two download packages; one for 9.x and one for 10.x

As SAP Business One 10.0 only supports 64-bit we need to also make our Server component 64-bit. In current releases it is 32-bit and we fear if we change too much it will cause confusion.
For that reason, we have decided to have 2 download packages.

Learn more here:

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2. We will not support Browser Access anymore

It has various issues and limitations (https://support.boyum-it.com/hc/en-us/articles/206239698-Info-on-Boyum-Pack-and-support-for-Browser-Access) and is actively hindering us from making new cool features (because if we did they would not work in Browser Access.

While we will not go out of our way to deny your use of Browser Access (we will leave the code in place for at least 2020), we will not offer free support on the troubles you might have got it to work. We will also not think about this when designing a new feature and that could lead to trouble if you try to use them anyway. You can read more about SAP decision to phase out Browser Access and what the alternatives are here: https://blogs.sap.com/2019/06/13/sap-business-one-the-future-of-browser-access/

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3. B1 Budget Module, B1 Document Manager, B1 Time Task  / B1Time.com will go into a legacy mode and will be hidden away in new installations

As these Modules have never been a success we have decided to put them into legacy mode. This means that we, for now, keep it compatible with new versions (including SAP Business One 10) but will stop all new development for them, take it off the price lists and reject any development request. We do this to focus on what matters most to the majority of people.

You can read more here and the general strategy here

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4. Provider “NN Markedsdata” will be removed from Quick Create

Provider “NN Markedsdata” Provider in Quick Create will go away. Read more about it here 

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5. Several other smaller features will go into a legacy mode and be hidden away in new installations

We will mark the following features as legacy and hide them away:

• Function Buttons option to the external launcher (use UF External Launcher instead)
• Function Buttons option to the data launcher (use UF External Launcher instead)
• Function Buttons option to the user defined menu (use UF Macro instead)
• Function Buttons option to run user-queries (use UF – SQL Report instead)

Features that have previously already gone into legacy mode (Plugin System and UF - Content Creator will also be hidden away for new installations)

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6. We will raise the minimum required Microsoft Office version

Today we support Office 2007 and higher. As this version is out of support from Microsoft, we will bump the minimum required version to Office 2010 and higher.

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FAQ

Q: I don't agree with the decision. Is there any way I can change your mind?
A: While we are pretty set on making these changes and have considered them for over a year before the writing of the document, feel free to voice your opinion and concerns in the comments section below (there might be some scenario we did not consider)?

Q: Will the transition from 32-bit to 64-bit be painless?
A: We will do our utmost to try and make it so, but we also expect there to be some confusions and mistakes (example when we switch from 32-bit to 64-bit server components the 64-bit DI-API and Crystal Report Runtime 64-bit need to be installed, and if you forget you will end up with errors.

This is also the main reason we do 2 releases and leave the old on the 32-bit server component

Q: I've read somewhere on this site that you planned to switch to 64-bit server components in August 2019. Has this changed?
A: Yes, we evaluated this early plan and found that such a change in the middle of the year was too confusing for everyone so we changed it to happen in the first 2020 releases instead and only in the SAP Business One 10 release.

Q: What will you do between the SAP Business One 10.0 release in November and the first release in 2020 if SAP only offers 64-bit and your Server Component are 32-bit only?
A: We expect the versions for SAP 10 in preview for the 10.0 ramp-up. We will give more info about this as we get closer to the release.

Q: What about SAP 9.2 and 9.3. Will you stop support in 2020?
A: No, right now the plan is not to change the minimum required version of our products (SAP 9.2 PL04).

Q: I have more questions. How can I voice them?
A: Feel free to write in the comments below or send a mail to support@boyum-it.com

Q: When are your plans for the first release in 2020.
A: As always the first releases are expected in early February (more specifically 10th of Feb. 2020 if all goes as planned). Before that, we will as normal release early previews so you can test ahead of the final release

Q: What about the SAP Business One 10 Web-client. Do you support that?
A: No; SBO10 Web-client is a brand new technology that no existing add-ons can support. Read more why here