Hi Gurus,
Can Some one let me know the versions of the Business Objects with the release dates. I am a beginner and a bit confused with the version during my study period. Please provide the details from 5.x to XI
Regards
SN
SN… (BOB member since 2009-12-13)
Welcome to B:bob:B!
What are the various BO versions release dates for? 
It’s nothing that is important in using BO. Just use one of the most recent versions (BO XI r2 or higher) and you should be fine 
Moderator Note:
Moving to General Discussion forum
Marek Chladny 
(BOB member since 2003-11-27)
Yes I understand and thank for the information, But during my study I am bit confused with the migration and up gradation. I mean from which version to version we will go for the migration and up gradation. Also the advanced features in the new version etc…
Thanks
SN…
SN… (BOB member since 2009-12-13)
It is all a matter of definition: how do you define upgrade versus migration?
Migration involves more effort than a “simple” upgrade in my books.
Typically, moving from ver 5.x/6.x to XI is a migration.
Anything else is often referred to as an upgrade.
So, what do the release dates matter anyhow…
What matters is that you have versions 3(?), 4, 5, 6, XI R1, XI R2, XI 3.x as major releases so far.
Regarding new features in XI 3.x, see Sticky: [XI 3.0] New features in XI R3.0 (Titan)
Andreas 
(BOB member since 2002-06-20)
It seems like perhaps the real question is ‘we are on version x and need to upgrade to version y. What are the version between those’. If that really is the question then as long as you are using at least version 5.1.4 you you should be able to upgrade. The exception is if you are using Application Foundation (now called Performance Management). That will require intermediate steps along the way as the PM repository has had some changes and must be at a later version than 5.1.4 to upgrade.
tmarion 
(BOB member since 2002-08-20)
Why the question mark after the 3 Andreas?
It was a wonderful version in all it’s 16-bit glory!
It wasn’t questioning Andreas. It was reading the entire thread and realizing that perhaps the real question has not been asked yet. That realization came after seeing the follow-up from the OP about upgrading.
tmarion (BOB member since 2002-08-20)
I wasn’t questioning your post, I was asking Andreas why he put (?) after the 3.
I am guessing that he’s not talking about “XI” 3 but the older 3.0/3.1 release from the mid 1990’s.
Dave Rathbun (BOB member since 2002-06-06)
It’s clear that he is, given the order he’s listed them in, Dave, it’s just the question mark that confused me.
As I started working with BusinessObjects in spring of 2000 I never had the chance to work with version 3 or 4, and I do not even know if there ever was a version 3. Therefore the questionmark after the 3 
So version 3 did exist, huh?
Andreas (BOB member since 2002-06-20)
It did indeed. I know Dave used it.
I used it and used to dump the data into Lotus 123 with a macro written to do the formatting. I was using two P75s at the time on good old Windows 3.11 for Workgroups, one for queries, one for day to day work.
Designer didn’t have a gui as such, joins all had to be hand-coded. I didn’t do the designer work back then, though, I was busy cutting my teeth on reporter and fending off Windows general protection faults. 
V4 emerged to work with Windows 95 and threw us excitedly into 32-bit World (think of going from NES to SNES!). I first saw it second half of 1997 and still have the install media at home somewhere!
At least I think that was how it evolved, I wasn’t too concerned with the technical side of the tool back then, more interested in the front end side. One of the best bits with v3 was that the report came as three files - the report, the sql and the data. If you wanted to repoint them to a different universe, move them to the file folder of that universe. Simple!
Andreas, perhaps you missed my blog post where I posted screen shots from the “original” 3.1 version. 
Dave Rathbun (BOB member since 2002-06-06)
Nice nice, just went through your blog about 3.1 from 1995,…time warp… LET’S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN… >>>CHEERS
I am off to another “back to the future” thingy:
the animated movie “Fire and Ice”, from 1983, remastered on blue-ray…
Andreas (BOB member since 2002-06-20)
I have that on VHS and DVD, I did not know they had remastered it to Bluray, cool. 
Going back to the original poster, my typical response to version release dates is “who cares”. You should know what you’re using, and how you got there (or where you are going) is a separate question. There is no value, really, in knowing that 4.0 came out in October of 1996. And again in November of 1996. And again in December of 1996. And so on with monthly patches for several months beyond that.
Dave Rathbun (BOB member since 2002-06-06)
And that was in fact my original answer too 
Marek Chladny (BOB member since 2003-11-27)
(BOB member since 2008-05-12)