Dynamics 365 (Online) Update Policy

The latest major version of Dynamics 365 (online), formerly known as Dynamics CRM Online and Dynamics AX (online), became generally available in Dec. 2016. Current and upcoming versions of the online service are shown above. The Dynamics 365 team plans to deliver new features at least twice a year for Dynamics 365 (online) customers, usually in May and December updates, while on-premises customers should see similar enhancements and fixes in major version releases and service packs, usually around the same time.

The update process follows the previous one for Dynamics CRM Online but now includes the previous Dynamics AX (online) service as well. Until Aug. 2017, customers will continue to see CRM Online references in their update processes and information, but after the end of support for CRM Online 2016 Update 1, all customers should be on Dynamics 365 (online) branded versions and CRM Online references should disappear.

Dynamics 365 (online) continues to use the same customer-staged update process used with CRM Online. It does not require customers to immediately accept new updates to the service, except for minor releases denoted with a third number, such as 7.1.1, and typically include minor fixes and security updates. In general, customers can elect to postpone accepting an update and remain on their current version as long as their version is no more than one version behind the most current major version. For example, the most current major version is 8.2, which means customers can reside on version 8.1 or 8.2. According to Microsoft, customers currently on CRM Online version 8.0 (CRM Online 2016 Update) will need to accept an update to either CRM Online version 8.1 or Dynamics 365 (online) 8.2 by the end of Mar. 2017.