This can be a confusing subject… so lets define some things:
- Smart client aka .NET client - This is how the entire system has run since 2005 and before. This is what EVENTUALLY will be replaced by the Web Browser based client
- Browser based client, AKA “Kinetic UI” or the “New UI”. We have rephrased the name to “Browser based client” to be clear that this does not need the Smart Client.
- WITHIN the SMART client, there were THREE Menu styles:
- Classic - this was the old school menu structure that was running from before 2005
- Modern - (aka Modern Shell)… this was a first attempt to create a newer modern UI experience. It was unfortunately named “Modern” because now that some time has passed, it is not the forward going menu style
- Kinetic - This is the new menu structure that Kinetic (the Browser Based client) uses. THIS IS THE FORWARD GOING Menu structure.
As for WHEN things are enabled, and when they are going away. (Safe harbor statement here)
- Browser based client - This is the eventual future for all things Kinetic. Nearly everything can be run from any modern browser (google chrome, Microsoft Edge, etc).
- Smart Client - This will eventually be going away, but there is no firm date announced yet. We have committed to give at least 1 year warning, so you can assume that since we are not announcing it now, it will be at least 18 months away, if not more.
- Menu Styles - We are making an announcement at Insights 2023 about deprecation of certain menu styles in the future (you can probably guess which) so that we are not maintaining three different menu structures. This will allow us to enhance the remaining menu structure.