Microsoft USD - The newer version of USD comparision

Question

I am currently working on USD 1.0 which is of-course a very old version of USD.

We are trying to move to the newest version of USD in my organization, which i believe is USD 4.0

I have tried searching the web but other than the MSDN article i have been able to gather much detail on this version.

I am trying to figure out my possibilities in trying to adapt to this newer version. In light of it, i have a few questions listed below,

1. Has Microsoft released only the preview/trial version of USD 4.0 yet? Or is it made available for general public which means we can access and start developing in our production environment?

2. Is the new version of USD, a web based version? I have heard that this version is not the desktop application like it was before.

3. Will it be safe to migrate from USD 1.0 to USD 4.0?

4. Microsoft has also introduced Unified Client Interface, what is it? Is it available only with USD 4.0?

5. Features comparison with USD 1.0?

6. If Microsoft have released the preview version only, then when will they release the stable version? (any tentative date)?

Also, if they have released the preview version just then obviously they might change it in future. Therefore, it will not be wise enough to migrate to it if it is just a preview version.

Looking forward to your answers. Any sort of videos, articles, documentations, press releases, your personal opinions are welcome.

Thanks

Answer 1

Most 'manual' based MSDN information has been moved to Microsoft Docs: https://docs.microsoft.com

USD 4.x is still a desktop application that loads MSD components. You can upgrade to a more recent version 3.2 quite easily:

You can upgrade a Unified Service Desk 1.x or Unified Service Desk 2.0 sample application package to Unified Service Desk 3.2 by importing the Upgrade sample application package. The upgrade will not affect the configuration data associated with the existing solution.

Follow the steps here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/customer-engagement/unified-service-desk/admin/upgrade-unified-service-desk-solution?view=dynamics-usd-3

From there on forward it is much more easy to compare 3.x with 4.x and answer all your remaining questions.

Neil Parkhurst also has a ton of information. https://neilparkhurst.com/2016/06/20/usd-the-book/