This summer I installed the Technology Preview version of Microsoft Office 2010. It basically played pretty with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Recently the updated Beta version was released for public download so I eagerly downloaded and installed it. As with the TP version, I had to install the 32-bit version and upgrade an existing Office 2007 for it to install the CRM Outlook Client. Then I happened to notice that Customization was no longer displayed in the Settings area of CRM. This has been a common known problem for quite some time so I wasn’t concerned. All you have to do is close CRM, close Outlook, then reopen CRM and there it (Customization) is. Well… not with Office 2010 Beta it seems! I found that even if I rebooted my machine and did not start Outlook at all, Customization would still not display.
So, I decided to try to fix it. I first uninstalled Office 2010 Beta and checked CRM. Even with Office 2010 gone, Customization would not display. Then I installed Office 2007. That seemed to fix the problem. I installed the CRM client and still it worked as it should. Customization (and another item) were now displayed as they should be. That was a week or two ago. I kind of let it go since it was now working and I had other fish that needed frying.
Tonight, fish fried, I decided to try installing Office 2010 again. Boy it takes awhile to install. Probably because I did it across a wireless connection. Once installed, but before I launched Outlook 2010 for the first time, I checked CRM. Sure enough Customization was still available. Then I launched Outlook 2010 Beta. I closed Outlook and then launched CRM again. Once again Customization was no where to be found. Clearly there must be a link between Office 2010 and CRM and the disappearing Customization. I will continue to ‘play’ with it a bit and report back if I find anything significant. I’ll also Tweet it from @CRMLarry and reference #CRM & #MSCRM.