Microsoft CRM 2005 is just around the corner

The word on the street is that Microsoft CRM 2005 (formerly Microsoft CRM 2.0) will be released to manufacturing (RTM) in March with general availability (GA) this summer.

The enhancement i'm most looking forward to is the improved customization tools. Supposedly you'll be able to do a lot more with the built-in tools than you could in the previous 1.x versions. You were very limited - adding a new field to an existing table and form was about the most complicated thing you could do. Anything else required .Net development. I don't think i should have to right any VB code if i just want to add a new table or a new window. The schema in CRM 2005 is supposed to be much more extensible with the built-in customization tools - you can easily add new objects such as tables and forms that didn't exist.

There is also talk that there will be a special bundled edition that will combine Small Business Server 2003 and Microsoft CRM 2005.

I'm trying to get my hands on a beta of CRM 2005 so i can provide a better review. I'll keep you posted.