There is a bit of a theme to this month’s updates – it’s all about visuals. Microsoft’s marketing department has got its hands on Power BI this month too, as the tool receives a brand new icon. At last, there is a dismiss option to the Power BI Desktop splash screen, and probably most interestingly, Microsoft is introducing dynamic M query parameters in Preview.

Be aware too that Microsoft has made a change to the version of .NET that is required to run Power BI Desktop. Starting from this release, you will need to have .NET 4.6.2 or greater installed. You should note that this is installed by default with Windows 10 and for older versions of Windows the Power BI Desktop installer will launch the .NET installer for you.

Here is this month’s avalanche of updates:

Reporting

• Canvas watermarks
• ‘Personalize visuals’ is now Generally Available
• Data point rectangle select for Treemap

Analytics

• Export data from Q&A visual

Data Preparation

• Dynamic M Query Parameters (Preview)
• Automatic Table Detection from Excel files
• Automatic Table Detection from JSON files

Data Connectivity

• Broader geographical support for Power Platform Dataflows connector
• MariaDB now supports DirectQuery
• Updated SharePoint Online List Connector
• New connectors

Service

• Updates to the “new look” experience and release plan

Mobile

• Power BI for HoloLens 2 (Preview)
• Automatic page refresh is now supported on the Windows app
• Support for notch displays

Embedded

• Power BI Automation and APIs
• Power BI Embedded Analytics

Visualisations

• Extended admin capability features are now Generally Available
• New visuals
• Zebra BI Charts (version 4.3)
• Zebra BI Tables (version 4.3)
• RoadMap by ADWISE (version v1.5.0)
• ZoomCharts (version 1.6)
• Bullet Chart by xViz

Template Apps

• Simplified installation
• Find template apps from the Power BI Desktop
• DirectQuery support for template apps

Other

• Export data source to PBIDS in Power BI Desktop
• Icon update
• Desktop splash screen dismiss.

As always, we'll be detailing these updates in our November newsletter. Please remember we have virtual / online training in Power BI which you can find out more about here. If you are not already a subscriber, why not sign up at the bottom of any SumProduct web page? And don't forget to download the latest version of Power BI Desktop here too.