Gerald,
I used to be of a similar mindset but in XI3 there’s very little that I can’t do in Webi Rich Client that I can do in Deski.
With Webi in SAP BI 4.0 you can hide columns by the way.
Andreas 
(BOB member since 2002-06-20)
gerald, you may want to look into Hyperion reporting software. Although I haven’t used the software since years ago when it was Brio, they had a very useful Query on Query feature that allowed you to combine results from your other queries in the report document, and also do further filtering, completely on the client or middle tier.
However, I have no idea if they still have a product with this feature, since Brio was bought by Hyperion which I think was then bought by Oracle.
b_demann 
(BOB member since 2003-03-20)
I as well as everyone I know are in agreement gerald(they range from 6.5 thru XI R3). Not going to 4.0 since Deski is no longer there. And like you looking at other alternatives.
Shame, since Deski is BY FAR the BEST OLAP(close to) tool than any other product out there. NOT TO MENTION HOW USER FRIENDLY IT IS !
Can’t even dream of my users scrambling around with CRYSTAL - the no universe solution(we all know that crystal users don’t use universes)
But than again Crystal was never made for user usage, there goes the Business Intelligence aspect of SAPBO
Webi is a cool thing but lets face it; it never comes close to what we do in and with DESKI
ColumbiaIT (BOB member since 2011-06-15)
I thought Hyperion was Essbase not Brio but I might be mistaken.
Has anyone looked at arcplan? I used them several years ago against multidimensional and relational databases and loved it. Very slick.
Just a thought,
Mitra
Mitra Moini (BOB member since 2002-09-01)
Shhh, advertising is not cheap or are they paying you to say something on this site 
… we are looking at arcplan as well …
ColumbiaIT (BOB member since 2011-06-15)
Isn’t this a little harsh and “one-of-a-kind” ?
I think with a little trial-and-error you can get ALMOST the same lay-out in webi as in your old deski (at least in the SAP BI 4.0 version of webi).
And yes it probably will not meet 100%, but what’s the use of a 100% pixel perfect translation? It’s about the information what’s on the report!
I challenge you gerard! Please share with us your example (based on efashion/island marketing) in deski and I think a couple of the BoB forum addicts will give it a try to translate it to webi 4.0! (I know I wil give a try!)
And further more… can you give us some other examples of what’s possible in DESKI and not in WEBI, because if I listen to your story there are ton’s!
ps
Yes I was/am a hughe DESKI fan and I would love to have it arround untill I retire… but SAP unfortunately decided otherwise!
pps
But why is everybody allready saying goodbye? Xi3.1 is suported till 2015. And if after 2015 it’s not supported anymore but still works for you why don’t you use it? Yes unsuported but if it means so much for your company that won’t be a problem. (I know there is hughe install base of BusinessObjects 5.1.x still active in the market)
IBM cognos did the same with their Powerplay Full client tool, they abandoned it in version 8, and translated it into a horror-ful web-version-spin-off which didn’t worked and now in version 10 it’s back somehow/not fully again in a webversion but much more close to the former full client version. Nevertheless if they rebranded the old powerplay full client tool and put it back on the market with no modifications I could sell it at dozens of clients. And I think I could do the same with Deski
Tiny 
(BOB member since 2004-11-10)
I can give you a few, as I was recently asked for such a list by a client:
Display a table in multiple Columns
Grouping button
Freehand SQL queries (I hope Webi never has this)
Save as RTF, TXT, HTML
Edit List of values
List of values in formula editor
Center on page
This was all I could come up with. I could come up with a MUCH longer list of what Webi can do, that isn’t possible in Deski.
MichaelWelter 
(BOB member since 2002-08-08)
I think you forgot the most important thing.
Running two tier versus three tier. I can’t even imagine Webi running a large report without locking up and breaking down.
Intuitive form of editing… i.e. using UserResponse() Deski displays a list of your prompts to choose from. Webi… you have to write ALL your prompts out and don’t miss a space otherwise won’t work. Not a biggie but again, very very user friendly and intuitiveness beyond belief with user reporting.
View Data is another function within Deski; not in Webi.
I can go on but need to get back to making a complex report, another back-breaking workaround if I need to do it in webi.
But in fairness, I am not saying that Webi is bad; its just not DESKI and visa versa for simple internet reporting.
ColumbiaIT (BOB member since 2011-06-15)
I though freehand SQL was going to be in Webi for BI4?
norty303 
(BOB member since 2003-03-19)
Webi has both 2-tier and 3-tier modes. Same as Deski.
Yes, you’re right. I agree.
It is now. Webi 4.0 has a Data Manager. 8)
Nope. It has quite a few new sources for data providers, but FHSQL isn’t one of them.
MichaelWelter (BOB member since 2002-08-08)
From page 5 of this thread…
Is this an about turn, or just that it isn’t in Webi 4 yet?
norty303 (BOB member since 2003-03-19)
Well, he didn’t say what version it was planned for, but it’s not there in 4.0. It has been submitted at the SAP Idea Place here, but it has not yet been accepted. It is currently under review.
MichaelWelter (BOB member since 2002-08-08)
Looks like we’ll be going to SP3 then, instead of BI4 for the forseeable future.
norty303 (BOB member since 2003-03-19)
And…(based upon using WRC in 3.1 Sp3) Webi :
doesn’t have Print Preview
doesn’t allow Print options
doesn’t properly display tables in structure mode when using Autofit
doesn’t enable easy relative placement of free-standing cells (‘Insert Cell After’ etc.)
doesn’t prompt you to keep / remove a filter when deleting a filtered column
doesn’t allow deleting of multiple tabs
doesn’t allow deletion of a file when using File>Open
doesn’t allow you to maximise the query panel with a double click
doesn’t allow export of multiple reports
doesn’t allow creation of a variable in it’s context (a massively useful function)
always refreshes LOVs (you can’t stop it no matter which option you choose)
doesn’t allow the creation of complex filters without creating boolean variables
has restricted fonts available (no Wingdings)
doesn’t allow you to create a simple filter on a measure returned by a query (I’m not talking about Measures that are aggregated within the report)
doesn’t allow you to schedule a multi-DP report in CSV format
doesn’t have the ‘remove trailing blanks’ option in the query panel
doesn’t allow ‘query on query’ when the object type is different between the two queries (e.g. numeric in one, char in the other…and yes I have needed to do this!)
doesn’t allow simple calculations such as [Date]+1
doesn’t allow you to prevent specific DPs from being refreshed in a scheduled report
doesn’t allow you to change the Universe for specific DPs in a multi-DP report (it’s all or nothing)
Hopefully some of the above have been addressed in v4 
anorak (BOB member since 2002-09-13)
Free-Hand SQL is possible in WebI, even for XI 3.1. It is not as easy as in Full Client/DeskI, but it is doable. With that being said, Free-Hand SQL is really a bad thing because it is a maintenance nightmare.
I showed that in my session at the 2011 SBOUC, and I warned people the downside of using Free-Hand SQL. It should be your very last resort when there is no other way.
substring (BOB member since 2004-01-16)
Not if you’re not using it for production published reports it isn’t.
Some people still use Deski (and therefore Webi) as an adhoc data analysis tool (remember them?!), rather than for just production reporting in Infoview, and it performs excellently at being able to quickly format and slice and dice discrete blocks of SQL.
The workarounds for Webi 3.1 are well known and a PITA to use (imho) thereby not being a viable solution in the real world, where speed of reaching a conclusion is paramount (not ensuring the object count is correct!) 
norty303 (BOB member since 2003-03-19)
Agree completely. FHSQL is one of the many reasons I still use DeskI. However, I never use FHSQL for production reporting. It is what it is – a fast, easy, and reliable mechanism to generate richly formatted output from a SQL statement. Using modified SQL in WebI or universe-based derived tables, while achieving the same result, simply doesn’t match FHSQL for speed and ease of use.
Joe
joepeters (BOB member since 2002-08-29)
Thanks, and I was beginning to think we were just ‘strange’… 
norty303 (BOB member since 2003-03-19)
While Deski has been discontinued, nothing is stopping you from continuing to use it for that purpose. 8)
MichaelWelter (BOB member since 2002-08-08)