Microsoft Takes Users Through New Features of Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 at NAVUG Forum

At the NAVUG Forum general opening session, Microsoft's Brett Johnson outlined some of the new additions to the latest release, Dynamics NAV 2013 R2. The new release, which was designed as a full-featured solution for the SMB (small to midsized business) market, was built around the pillars of instant value; SharePoint and Office 365 integration; Windows Azure and multi-tenancy services; and mobile device accessibility.

During his demonstration of NAV 2013 R2, Johnson compared the Windows client to that of Office 2013. In an effort to clean up the look and feel of the user interface, he said all icons were redesigned and touch-screen enablement was added. "If you have a touch screen," said Johnson, "you can just click on a queue and drop it into where it needs to go."

Johnson said a few new touches were added for power users (Ctrl+F12 to remove the "busy stuff" from the screen, for example). And while users will retain the same amount of keyboard power as they would in the classic Window clients, the new version includes the latest charts, the choice to tweak different options on those charts, and a button that maximizes views and allows users to quickly drill down into their data. 

Also new with this NAV update is a feature that allows customers to conduct instant searches from "anywhere in the application," said Johnson, and a new "help" button that can be set up for either local or cloud-based access (via Azure). He said the updated version of NAV also integrates with Office 365, thus allowing users to utilize the latter without the need for a full installation on their own servers and/or computers. "It's an end-to-end online experience that allows customers to work with data without the need for local ...