I find the Edge agent to be a PITA. Sessions timeout crazy quick.
5 Likes
I agree. I hate everything about the edge agent. I would not deploy it at all except for people who need to print direct, which should be very few people in my ideal future world.
And to be clear I do not object AT ALL to forcing everyone to the browser. I am working as hard and fast as I can to get there. My ENTIRE objection is to the TIMING. I cannot get there by this fall. Its just not possible. I need more time.
I need at a minimum until next spring, ideally until next fall.
1 Like
So is MES front screen changing in 2024.1 or is it in 2024.2? We also are customized on those screens like you are. Right now I don’t have the choice of changing my users to Kinetic for MES. Is there a way to do it that I am not aware of? Please let me know.
Thanks,
Jill
I’m learning it right now. 
1 Like
Are you on the Classic MES or the new Kinetic version titled “Data Collection”? Epicor stopped any development in Classic UI a few years ago. I did not see anything about Data Collection is changing.
Browser first in 2023.2 and 2024.1 are basically the same. It allows you to log in via the browser, launch applications from the browser, and if you have marked any of the apps to run the smart client version, then the browser will launch that version as a smart client app instead of a browser app.
The CHANGE that was made in 2024.1 was to eliminate the 20 plus year old smart client menu structure, as well as the 10 year old “Modern” menu as options that a user could choose, and only present the newest Kinetic menu display. Note that the menus are the same in all three, but just formatted differently. As of 2024.1, we have enhanced menu search options as well.
The PROPOSED change in 2024.2 is to eliminate the ability to actually log in via the smart client. If you launch the smart client, it would take you to the browser to log in, thus “forcing” browser first, but you still have access to all the smart client apps, just as before in 2024.1.
Note that we are 
Safe harbor examining how the edge agent is deployed to make it easier and more transparent in future versions.
3 Likes
Works for all programs except those under System Setup and System Management. My menus grey out changing them to “RunAsClassic”.
1 Like
Sounds like its not a final decision then? Please please please delay to 2025.2.
5 Likes
We have not announced that we will announce it next year… what we have said is that we have not yet announced it, and once we do announce, it will be with a 1-year runway. One other thing we said is that WE are not ready. We cannot announce it until we are ready, and have all the toolsets complete (updatable BAQ, BPMs, Functions, etc) so that you don’t need a smart client anymore (which is not the case yet).
All that said, it was over two years ago (maybe 3 years?) that we told everyone that we were moving away from the smart client. We even announced at that time that it was going away in 1 year. BUT… we were not ready, and neither was anyone else. We pulled the plug on that announcement and said that it would be in the future that we would give a 1-year runway. BUT that doesn’t mean that you should wait anymore. App Studio is now a great tool, and it is what our developers use to create new Kinetic Apps. It is full-featured and ready to go. The time is now to start your transition so that you are ready for the 1-year runway.
8 Likes
To those who have been using Kinetic entirely… HOW?
We are on 2022.2.19 and I just discovered that the post engine rules do not work the same as they did in classic UI, leading to bad rules (poorly formatted strings, completely breaking the ability to open operations tab in classic). This further diminishes my confidence in Kinetic UI, given how key this feature is, and that many features tested are problematic. I assume (hope??) this is fixed in 2023 but I won’t know until later this year.
1 Like
I will be the odd one out and say, Yay! Please make the change.
As long as there is still an option to delay transitioning, every existing user will want to stay classic because the majority of people don’t like change. If Epicor does this, you have them to fall back on for blame.
I have found the web version to be MUCH better than the classic for users. At my old job, we were using web and had to revert back to classic because of the ECM metadata bug, and I had users complain about how clunky classic was. I know it can suck changing, but I support Epicor forcing it on us.
4 Likes
There isn’t an option to delay though. That is literally my entire objection. I do NOT object to the change. I just need more than 3 months to get there.
Wow do you have a PRB in place? That can’t be.
Ah I see you said 2022 you are on. I assume that’s fixed in 2023.2 or 2024.1.
Do you have a PRB?
No need to create an idea. We have multiple people monitoring this thread, including @bconner, @pferrington, others, and myself. In this dialog we have seen a couple of possible omissions in our analysis regarding the removal of the smart client login, and we want to make sure that this is an ultra-smooth transition. If we cannot guarantee that it is smooth, then the browser-only login option may get delayed… but it will only get delayed, not canceled. The browser is our future, and we will not continue to support the smart client forever.
We thank you for your input, and we may be running some Empathy sessions in Epicor Ideas, and we WILL do some end-user testing to prove out the final results.
9 Likes
Thanks for listening.
4 Likes
That (version 2022.2.19) is your issue… Kinetic 2023.1 & 2023.2 made some huge leaps in functionality. 2024.1 continued on those changes, and the browser version works very well. Remember that 100% of our new customers who purchase Kinetic are only shown the browser version. All of them are implemented using the browser version. all new customizations for new sales are done using the browser version. New Customers are probably out there wondering what all the controversy is about, because when they go back and look at the “smart client” their comment is about how slow and old it is.
4 Likes
Its not BEING there that is the problem, its GETTING there.
1 Like
I will say that I WANTED to use the Kinetic interface because it was a bit easier than classic, especially on something tedious like posting rules. I am going to stop using it until our 2023.2 upgrade testing, due to the issues in our version.
My hope is that when the long-awaited tools arrive, they don’t suffer from the same problems and require years of rework in order to be production ready, despite being production software.
We deployed all kinetic everywhere except the forms that had bugs that could not be used, which was about 4 screens in total. Just an FYI.
5 Likes