Q: Does the new Crystal XI shipping with 2008.2 negatively impact MAS or other Sage applications running an earlier version of Crystal?
A: No, when a customer installs any FAS product, components of the latest version of Crystal are installed on their machine in order to run the Standard reports provided with FAS and to provide new customization and Report Writer features. Crystal has made changes in their most recent versions that should greatly reduce and, hopefully, eliminate conflicts experienced with having multiple Crystal versions installed. Customers should be advised to install the product with the older Crystal version first followed by the product with the newer Crystal version. We have tested all FAS 2008.2 products with other Sage ERP systems and not experienced any conflicts.
Q: Does the FAS 2008.2 release apply to MAS Fixed Assets or MAS Extended Enterprise Suite (EES) customers?
A: No, the FAS 2008.2 update available on SupportPlus Online will not work for MAS Fixed Assets or EES customers. MAS is planning to make a 2008.2 version available to these customers but this will be after the FAS 2008.2 release. We do not yet have an exact date. Please note that the 2008.2 release announcement email was inadvertently sent to MAS Fixed Assets customers (approximately 160). If you receive any calls from these customers about FAS 2008.2, please let them know that MAS will be providing this update in the coming weeks.
Q: Should MAS customers using FAS Asset Accounting install the 2008.2 update?
A: That depends on which version of MAS they are using. Due to changes made in FAS with this release the depreciation posting and asset addition (AP/PO) links will no longer work without an update from MAS. This update is only available to current versions of the MAS products. A message on the FAS Update page directs MAS customers to a page that explains this (http://support.sagesoftwareonline.com/fasrelease).
- MAS versions 4.2 and 4.3 support FAS 2008.2 – The latest service release from MAS will correct this issue with the links and should also be installed after moving to 2008.2. Either the MAS or the FAS Customer Support teams can assist customers in getting and installing the service pack.
- MAS versions 4.10, 4.05, 4.00, and 3.71 – At this time we do not know if an update will be made available for these older versions of MAS. Customers should wait for future MAS service packs and should not install FAS 2008.2 if the links are integral to their operations. These customers can use the FAS Universal Link for posting depreciation, which we will make available for free; however, the asset addition (AP/PO) link will not be available.
Update: According to Sage, users on Abra Human Resources software should expect that they will stay on Crystal version 9 for at least the remainder of 2009.
