Getting to grips with Dynamics CRM releases, updates and build numbers

Since a couple of weeks I have been working with Dynamics CRM. One of the things which is always challenging when starting to learn a new product is getting to understand the different versions and the changes between versions. When Microsoft was still on a 3-year release cycle for their products, this was quite easy to understand but most Microsoft products are now on a more much more frequent release schedule and Dynamics CRM is no exception.
Updates and improvements to Dynamics CRM are released twice a year – in what is commonly referred to as the spring and fall release – see Microsoft Dynamics CRM – Roadmap for 2015. Given the new “Cloud first” credo of Microsoft these updates can be a cloud only release as was the case with the Spring 2015 (Carina) release.  For Dynamics CRM Online you are required to be on the current version ( n )  or the prior version ( n-1 ) but you have the choice to skip an update – see Manage Dynamics CRM Online Updates. Dynamics CRM on premise follows the standard lifecycle that you are accustomed to  (see Microsoft Dynamics Support Lifecycle Policy FAQ and Microsoft Product Lifecycle Search for Dynamics CRM)

To make things a little more interesting the Dynamics CRM product team seems to have chosen to use stars and constellations as code names for the different releases. Code names of the same genre are also used for closely related products to Dynamics CRM such Dynamics Marketing, Social Engagement and Parature Knowledgebase.
Recently Microsoft also changed the naming conventions for their updates and explained the version/build numbers that they are using now and for future releases – check out New naming conventions for Microsoft Dynamics CRM updates. The tables below summarizes the different versions for the moment. As outlined in Greg Olsen his blog post – Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Roadmap – the next version for Dynamics CRM is code named Ara – another interesting tidbit -  “Not confirmed by Microsoft, but it is likely that On-Premises installations will have to wait for the CRM ‘ARA’ release during the Fall Wave in order to get the Carina new features and others.”

Product Name	Version description	Version number	Release or Update	Code Name
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online	Fall ‘13	6.0.0	Major release	Orion
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online	Fall ‘13	6.0.1	Incremental Update	-
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online	Fall ‘13	6.0.2	Incremental Update	-
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online	Spring ‘14	6.1.0	Minor release	Leo
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online	2015 Update (Fall ‘14)	7.0.0	Major release	Vega
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online	2015 Update 1 (Spring ‘15)	7.1.0	Minor release	Carina
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online	t.b.d.	t.b.d.	t.b.d.	Ara

Table1.  Releases Microsoft Dynamics CRM online

Product Name	Version description	Version number	Release or Update	Code Name
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (on premise)	2013	6.0.0	Major release	Orion
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (on premise)	2013 UR1	6.0.1	Incremental Update	-
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (on premise)	2013 UR2	6.0.2	Incremental Update	-
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (on premise)	2013 SP1	6.1.0	Minor release	Leo
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (on premise)	2015	7.0.0	Major release	Vega
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (on premise)	2015 Update 0.1	7.0.1	Minor release	Carina
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (on premise)	t.b.d.	t.b.d.	t.b.d.	Ara

Table 2. Releases Microsoft Dynamics CRM (on premise)
References:

• Dynamics CRM – Get ready for the next release
• Manage Dynamics CRM Online updates
• Customer Driven Updates in CRM Online 2015 Update 1 (Video)
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015, 2013, and 2011 updates: release dates, build numbers and collateral
• Quick tip: determine the version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM
• Dynamics CRM Roadmap – Spring 2015 and beyond
• A few notes on Convergence 2015 Announcements
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM – Roadmap for 2015