Windows 10 Technical Preview: The Start Menu

Ian Grieve2 minute read4 Comments

WindowsWindows 10 is to see the re-introduction of the Start menu. The Start menu was initially introduced in Windows 95 and continued unchanged until it was given a makeover in the 2007 released Windows Vista.

This makeover saw the ability to conduct a search by simply starting to type after pressing the Windows button.

Windows 8 saw the removal of the Start menu and introduction of the Start screen; the start menu had occupied a small cramped area in the bottom left of the screen next to the Windows button, whereas the Start screen occupies the whole screen. The Start button was also removed and replaced with a hot corner in the bottom left from which to launch the Start screen.

Both of these choices proved to be very controversial and led for calls to reintroduce the Start button, which Microsoft did in Windows 8.1 although the Start screen remained.

Well, Windows 10 has had the Start menu reintroduced:

Start menu

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Windows 10 Technical Preview: Installation

Ian Grieve1 minute read1 Comment

WindowsBefore taking a look at the new features in the Windows 10 Technical Preview, we need to first install it.

To do the install I created a new virtual machine in Hyper-V and added the downloaded iso image to the virtual optical drive.

When I started the VM, the installer automatically started and progressed to the language selection window.

As I downloaded the UK version, the language has defaulted to English (United Kingdom); if you need to change the language, do so now and then click Next:

Windows Setup

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Windows 10 Technical Preview: Series Index

Ian Grieve1 minute read0 comment

WindowsWith the release of the Windows 10 Technical Preview, it is time for a divergence from posting about Microsoft Dynamics GP. It doesn’t seem all that long ago that I was posting about the Windows 8 Developer Preview, but looking back it was actually just over three years ago.

In this series, I’m going to start with the installation process and then take a look at some of the new features and differences between Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.

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SmartList To Show Transactions Included On VAT 100 Return

Ian Grieve3 minute read1 Comment

Microsoft Dynamics GPOne of the problems with the standard Tax Reports (Administration area page » Reports » Company » Taxes) in Microsoft Dynamics GP is that they will include only items requested for the date range, but the VAT 100 Return itself will select everything in the specified date range and also anything dated before this period which has not been included in previous VAT Returns.

This is a problem as it means you can not run a report before generating the VAT Return to see what would be picked up. However, a little thought and consideration of how the SmartList wildcards work and a workable solution presented itself.

In SmartList select the Tax Detail Transactions SmartList Favourite under Company and click on the Search button:

Search Tax Detail Transactions

Under Search Definition 1 enter Tax Return ID in the Column Name. Set the Filter to begins with and enter [^2] in the Value.

This search definition will return all transactions which do not have a Tax Return ID beginning with a 2; this assumes you name your VAT Returns along the lines of 2014-08 to have them sorted by date. If, as some clients I have seen, you create your VAT Returns with the month’s long, or short, name first then replace the 2 with JFMASOND and all items not starting with one of those letters will be returned.

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MDGP 2015 Feature of the Day: Organizational Accounts User Authentication

Ian Grieve2 minute read0 comment

Microsoft Dynamics GPThe Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP blog has started a series of posts on the new features of, the soon to be released, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015. As I have done for the last two releases, I intend to shadow these posts and add my own opinions on these new feature; the series index is here.

The sixth Feature of the Day is Organizational Accounts User Authentication.

This feature allows users to be authenticated for Microsoft Dynamics GP using organizational account credentials, also known as Azure AD accounts. This allows the user to log into the Microsoft Dynamics GP Web Client using the same credentials that are used for Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, or many other cloud applications:

User Setup

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MDGP 2015 Feature of the Day: Project Employee Expense Report

Ian Grieve2 minute read0 comment

Microsoft Dynamics GPThe Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP blog has started a series of posts on the new features of, the soon to be released, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015. As I have done for the last two releases, I intend to shadow these posts and add my own opinions on these new feature; the series index is here.

The fifth Feature of the Day is Project Employee Expense Report.

Project Accounting employees can create expense reports for any projects to which they are assigned and employees can also be set up to allow delegates to enter expense reports on their behalf.

Workflow approvals and task assignments are defined for expense reports; workflow actions are executed on the documents from the Expense Entry window or from the Navigation lists.

PTE Expenses navigation list

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My MVP Has Been Renewed

Ian Grieve2 minute read3 Comments

Microsoft MVPI received my notification today that I have been awarded the Microsoft® Most Valuable Professional award a second time.

Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2014 Microsoft® MVP Award! This award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with others. We appreciate your outstanding contributions in Dynamics GP technical communities during the past year.

I feel slightly like a fraud as my contributions to the Dynamics Community forums have been almost non-existant recently and blog posts have slowed. However, in large part that was because I was working on my third book which is out and has been published (see links below). So now I plan to get back to new blog posts and contributing to the Community Forum on a more regular basis.

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Change SQL Server From Windows Authentication To Mixed Mode

Ian Grieve1 minute read2 Comments

Microsoft Dynamics GPA while ago I was setting up SQL Server for a test system, I obviously wasn’t paying enough attention because when I tried to launch Microsoft Dynamics GP Utilities I received the below error:

Microsoft Dynamics GP Utilities: This login failed. Attempt to log in again or contact your system administratorMicrosoft Dynamics GP Utilities: This login failed. Attempt to log in again or contact your system administrator

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MDGP 2015 Feature of the Day: Vendor Approval

Ian Grieve3 minute read0 comment

Microsoft Dynamics GPThe Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP blog has started a series of posts on the new features of, the soon to be released, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015. As I have done for the last two releases, I intend to shadow these posts and add my own opinions on these new feature; the series index is here.

The fourth Feature of the Day is Vendor Approval. This feature is an enhancement to the new Workflow 2.0 module introduced in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 R2 which allows users to control the setup and maintenance of vendors.

Vendor Approval allows users to create mandatory workflow processes around the setup and maintenance of vendors. These mandatory processes need to be completed before transactions can be posted. The workflow processes are defined in Workflow Maintenance (Administration area page » Setup » Company » Workflow » Workflow Maintenance):

Workflow Maintenance

The workflow status appears on the window and actions can be taken directly from those windows, from an email or from a Navigation List.

I want to see more details about this feature as I am very much hoping that the workflow has been extended to include the EFT Bank details.

The new Workflow 2.0 is far, far simpler and easier to implement and use.

The roles targeted by this feature are:

  • All

Click to show/hide the MDGP 2015 Feature of the Day Series Index

MDGP 2015 Feature of the Day
General Ledger Batch Approval
Payables Management Batch Approval
Receivables Management Batch Approval
Vendor Approval
Project Employee Expense Report
Organizational Accounts User Authentication
Invoicing in the Web Client
Service Based Architecture
Service Based Architecture Deployment
Service Based Architecture Deployment
.NET Interop
Employee Benefits
Employee Self Service Functionality
Employee Profile, Skills & Training
HRP Workflow Pending Approval Navigation List
Employee W4 and Workflow
Direct Deposit and Workflow
Employee Paystubs
Fixed Assets Year-End Closing Report
Canadian Payroll Web Client
Create Refreshable Excel Reports In SmartList Designer
Payment Terms – Transaction Calculation
Payment Terms – Discount Date Calculation
Copy Home Page and Area Page
Management Reporter Integration
Management Reporter Integration Setup
Management Reporter in Business Analyzer
Business Analyzer Cross Platform
Void Intercompany Journal Entries
Edit Email on Historical Transactions
Intercompany Journal Entry Inquiry
Project Employee Expense Report Entry
Management Reporter Data Integration
Employee Self Service Purchase Requisitions
Existing Purchase Order Warning
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MDGP 2015 Feature of the Day: Receivables Management Batch Approval

Ian Grieve2 minute read0 comment

Microsoft Dynamics GPThe Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP blog has started a series of posts on the new features of, the soon to be released, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015. As I have done for the last two releases, I intend to shadow these posts and add my own opinions on these new feature; the series index is here.

The third Feature of the Day is Receivables Management Batch Approval. This feature is an enhancement to the new Workflow 2.0 module introduced in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 R2 which allows users to control the processing of Receivables Management batches in a more streamlined fashion.

Receivables Management Batch Approval allows users to create mandatory workflow processes around Receivables transaction batches. These mandatory processes need to be completed before transactions can be posted. The workflow processes are defined in Workflow Maintenance (Administration area page » Setup » Company » Workflow » Workflow Maintenance):

Workflow Maintenance

The workflow status appears on the window and actions can be taken directly from those windows, from an email or from a Navigation List.

The new Workflow 2.0 is far, far simpler and easier to implement and use.

The roles targeted by this feature are:

  • All

Click to show/hide the MDGP 2015 Feature of the Day Series Index

MDGP 2015 Feature of the Day
General Ledger Batch Approval
Payables Management Batch Approval
Receivables Management Batch Approval
Vendor Approval
Project Employee Expense Report
Organizational Accounts User Authentication
Invoicing in the Web Client
Service Based Architecture
Service Based Architecture Deployment
Service Based Architecture Deployment
.NET Interop
Employee Benefits
Employee Self Service Functionality
Employee Profile, Skills & Training
HRP Workflow Pending Approval Navigation List
Employee W4 and Workflow
Direct Deposit and Workflow
Employee Paystubs
Fixed Assets Year-End Closing Report
Canadian Payroll Web Client
Create Refreshable Excel Reports In SmartList Designer
Payment Terms – Transaction Calculation
Payment Terms – Discount Date Calculation
Copy Home Page and Area Page
Management Reporter Integration
Management Reporter Integration Setup
Management Reporter in Business Analyzer
Business Analyzer Cross Platform
Void Intercompany Journal Entries
Edit Email on Historical Transactions
Intercompany Journal Entry Inquiry
Project Employee Expense Report Entry
Management Reporter Data Integration
Employee Self Service Purchase Requisitions
Existing Purchase Order Warning
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