By the time December rolls around, and we're all slowly emerging from the turkey coma that Thanksgiving will have left us in, it will be beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and Microsoft (News - Alert) will be feeling the season like the rest of us. It even has a little something special in mind for Dynamics CRM users in the form of a special update, announced late last week.

This isn't the first update Microsoft will be carrying on by the end of the year; with Windows 8 now launched, the Surface tablet in play and Office 2013 recently clearing the RTM—Release To Manufacturing—point, it's been a pretty big year for Microsoft, one that looks to conclude with updates to Dynamics CRM.

What's in the updates? Quite a bit, actually; the improvements planned are already being described as “wide ranging,” and will offer up plenty of extra features, trying to keep the forward momentum that Dynamics CRM has been experiencing in the marketplace going. The December update is slated to include better integration with both Yammer and Skype (News - Alert), embedded Bing Maps support, support for Office 2013, and improvements in both cross-browser and cross-platform support. There are even some cloud features planned for release as well, with support for Microsoft.NET (News - Alert) Workflow Services, bulk data APIs, and support on the security front with FIPS—Federal Information Processing Standard—140-2.

The changes to Dynamics CRM were developed with a specific eye on mobile sales professionals, as well as those engaged in customer service ventures, according to Bob Stutz, Microsoft Dynamics CRM corporate vice president. Since the update is also set to support both Firefox and Google (News - Alert) Chrome on PCs, as well as Firefox and Safari on Macs—there's even set to be a version to let iPad users get in on the action via the iOS version of Safari—it's safe to say the waterfront will be covered in terms of platforms.

Dynamics CRM has some pretty impressive upward mobility going for it already; with 33 consecutive quarters of revenue growth—just over eight years' worth—to its credit, and its three millionth seat rapidly approaching. It's clear that Microsoft has a very well-received program on its hands here, so it's equally clear that Microsoft needs to keep it frequently updated so as to retain its value and usefulness to its target market. The slated updates should do all that and plenty more.