Before you create and configure a hybrid deployment using Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 and the Hybrid Configuration wizard, your existing on-premises Exchange organization must meet certain requirements.

If you don't meet these requirements, you won't be able to complete the steps within the Hybrid Configuration wizard and you won't be able to configure a hybrid deployment between your on-premises Exchange organization and the Exchange Online organization in Microsoft Office 365.

Read about the required prerequisites for...

• On-premises Exchange organization  
• Office 365 for enterprises  
• Custom domains  
• Active Directory synchronization  
• Autodiscover DNS records  
• Certificates  
• EdgeSync  

...in the full article here

The CRM Online December 2012 Update aka Polaris has been rolled out to our datacenters and existing tenants have been upgraded. You will enjoy a brand new form experience for many of the entities, e.g the Account entity (see below)

Opt-In

To get started with the update as an existing CRM Online customer, you need to opt-in to the new form experience. Only users with the System Administrator security role will see the option to opt-in. 

To apply the latest update, perform the following steps:

1. Open the Microsoft Dynamics CRM web application.
2. Click Settings, click Administration, and then click Product Updates.
3. Click Update.
4. Click Yes to continue.
5. A progress page appears and a video about the new features is provided.
   
6. Once the update process is complete, you will see the page shown below (note the "Enable the new forms" link - more on that later)
   

Migrate Customizations to New Forms

One of the most prominent new features in this update is the enhanced form experience for sales and service entities.  This includes Account, Case, Contact, Lead, and Opportunity.  When you apply the update, new forms are added for each of these entities. These forms contain some new controls that cannot be added to your existing form.  Instead you must update the new form to include any customizations you created on the original form.  To update the new forms to include your customizations such as custom fields, follow the steps below.

1. Open the Microsoft Dynamics CRM web application.
2. Click Settings, click Customizations, and then click Customize the System.
3. Expand the Entities node on the left side of the page.
4. Click Account.
5. Click Forms under the Account entity
   
6. You will notice that an additional form appears with a value of Main for Form Type and a value of Managed for State.
7. Open the form named Account.  This is the new form introduced with the opt-in update.
8. Update the form customizations to include any customizations that are needed, such as custom fields, tabs, and sections.
9. Repeat steps 4-8 for each of the other entities (Case, Contact, Lead, and Opportunity).

Clearing the Form Cache

Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides the ability to create multiple form definitions per entity. As a result, a user may have access to use multiple forms for an entity.  In this circumstance, a form selector appears on the classic edit form that allows the user to choose which form to use.

For each user, CRM stores information about the last form used for each entity.  This information is stored in the CRM database. Each time the user opens or creates a record, CRM will display the last form they used for that entity.  This is important to understand.  The new forms added by the update will be in addition to the existing forms. This will result in multiple forms for the Account, Case, Contact, Lead, and Opportunity entities.  The form order is automatically changed so that the new forms are at the top of the form list.  This allows the new forms to become the default forms for users.  However, since users may have already opened the form for that entity before the update was applied, they will see the previous form.  This is because the previous form is still cached in the database as the last form the user used.

To prevent this scenario, the form cache for the updated entities needs to be cleared. To clear the form cache for all users, follow these steps:

1. Open the Microsoft Dynamics CRM web application.
2. Click Settings, click Administration, and then click Product Updates.
3. Click Enable the new Forms.
4. Click Yes to continue.
   
   When done click Continue and you are good to go.
   

Before you start enjoying the new form experience, please make sure that you understand

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 “Polaris” release and its potential impact on current deployments
• It is recommended that you start a new trial to experience the new features before you opt in your production organization to install the latest product update. 
• It is important to understand that this update cannot be uninstalled
• The opt-in process will require a short period of downtime while the updates are applied
• Although this update cannot be uninstalled, the new form experience can be reverted to the classic edit forms

Read more

• The New Lead and Opportunity Form in CRM Online
• Customizing the Process Control in the New CRM Online Forms
• Whats New in Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Polaris Release

Microsoft is preparing to roll out the new SharePoint Online as a part of Office 365. As a result of this initial phase of the SharePoint Online service update, you may be affected by some of the design changes. Below is a consolidated list of items with pointers to documented fixes and posted workarounds:

• Install SharePoint Designer 2013 (free download here). Previous versions of SharePoint Designer are not compatible with the new SharePoint Online.
• Apply the Hotfix for SharePoint Designer 2013 to work properly with InfoPath 2010 – start here.
• Apply the Hotfix for SharePoint Workspace 2010 to work properly with the new SharePoint Online - start here.

In addition to the above items, there are several known issues previously posted. Read more here

Important for CRM Online customers

Some CRM Online customers are also impacted within this phase of the SharePoint Online service update. Please review the in-depth blog post that articulates the recommended “list component” fix here.
 

In case you missed it - the latest Product Use Rights (january 2013) now includes a note under Additional Terms #3, page 82

"3. Each user may also use one of the five activations on a network server with the Remote Desktop Services (RDS) role enabled" (see screenshot below)

Update January 22nd, 2013 Its important to emphasize that the Office 365 ProPlus bits will not install or run on a server with RDS enabled, but the updated PUR enables organizations to Volume License bits (Office Professional Plus 2013) in lieu of Office 365 ProPlus on RDS servers. Any user licensed for Office 365 ProPlus can access an RDS-hosted install as one of the 5 concurrent installs allowed per user (blog post title adjusted to reflect this update)

Update 1 March 18th, 2013. As per the Microsoft Product List March 1, 2013 page 97:

"Media Eligibility with Remote Desktop Services (RDS)
If the user to whom you have assigned an Office 365 ProPlus license uses the software on a network server with RDS role enabled, in lieu of installing a copy of the software provided with Office 365 ProPlus on one of the five permitted devices pursuant to the Product Use Rights for Office 365 ProPlus, that user may: 1) install one copy of the Office Professional Plus 2013 software on a network server and 2) access the Office Professional Plus 2013 software from any device.  Upon termination of your Office 365 ProPlus subscription you must uninstall Office Professional Plus 2013 software from the network server"

Update 2 March 18th, 2013. As per the Office 365 ProPlus service description:

"Office 365 ProPlus is supported on user-dedicated virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). To use Remote Desktop Services (RDS), you must use a volume license version of Office Professional Plus 2013, which is available on the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center. For more information, see Microsoft Volume Licensing Product Use Rights".

Note: the above is valid for the upcoming version of Office 365

If you are a visual learner then these videos might be useful.

Office 365 video training courses

Whether you’re new to Office 365 or want to learn a few new tricks, these courses will teach you how to use email, share documents and collaborate on projects, set up and attend online meetings, and use familiar Office programs that you can access almost anywhere

• Get to know Office 365
• Share or publish your Office 365 calendar
• Manage user accounts in Office 365
• Create a public email alias in Office 365
• Create an internal team alias in Office 365
• Share your Office 365 calendar
• Share your Office 365 contacts

To access the videos click here

CRM Online Video Training

These videos are designed to help you get started, learn how to configure Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, and understand how features like reporting and workflow can make your staff more efficient.

The videos are organized into these chapters:

Get started

• Getting started with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online
• Add Personnel to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online
• Account basics
• Understanding contacts

Configure and customize

• Tailor Microsoft Dynamics CRM for your business needs
• Personalize Microsoft Dynamics CRM for yourself

Add data

• Move your data into Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online
• Using the Import Data Wizard
• Cleaning up duplicate data
• Create and run duplicate detection rules

Optimize productivity

• Sharing and assigning records
• Organize and track all your activities
• Organize and centralize articles for your business
• Use Goal Management
• Routing your work with queues
• Optimize business processes with workflows and dialogs
• Create a simple workflow
• Create a dialog

Improve customer service

• Improve customer service with contracts
• Getting started with cases
• Simplify scheduling with services

Reach out to your customers

• Getting started with leads
• Winning sales with opportunities
• Getting started with campaigns
• Boost sales with a quick campaign
• Target the right customers with marketing lists

Manage products and orders

• Working with products and the product catalog
• Set up your product catalog
• Working with quotes, orders, and invoices

To access the videos click here

See also

• Trial Guide: Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and Office 365 - link
• CRM - Weekly Webcasts and Instructional Videos - link

Some Firefox or Chome users are repeatedly prompted to sign in even though they have successfully signed in previously when they use the web browser.

This issue occurs when the following conditions are true:

• The web browser is connecting to a Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server that uses AD FS 2.0 for claims-based authentication. Claims-based authentication is required for an Internet-facing deployment (IFD).
• The web browser that used to access Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is Firefox or Chrome.

This issue occurs because of the Windows operating system feature Extended Protection for Authentication. For more information about this security feature, see Microsoft Security Advisory (973811)    

Read about the resolution in this support article.

See also

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Integrated Authentication with Firefox in Update Rollup 12
• Google Chrome becomes unresponsive when logging into Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online