Power BI Desktop received a makeover this month with its new, default theme! It’s more than just redecorating though: Microsoft has doubled the number of built-in theme options for reports. Now, if you’re a theme author, with the new updates to the theme JSON format makes it easier to create your own custom themes.

Another popular request has been actioned in this update too: Microsoft admits it was “…thanks to an intern project…”, they are also releasing custom format strings.

Starting with this update, installation is now smoother and more streamlined with a single .exe installer that has all the languages wrapped into it. This means if you’re automatically downloading it from the Download Center each month, you’ll need to update your scripts.

Here’s the complete list of September updates:

Reporting

• Color and text classes in themes
• New default themes
• ‘Personalized Visualization’ pane improvements (Preview)

Analytics

• Custom format strings
• Conditional formatting for more visual formatting options:
• Drill through discoverability improvement
• New DAX expressions: REMOVEFILTERS and CONVERT

Visualizations

• PowerApps visual now Generally Available and certified

Data connectivity

• PostgreSQL connector enhancements

Data preparation

• Copy to clipboard from data profiling

Template apps

• Google Analytics report

Other

• Performance improvements for multi-dimensional models
• Query performance improvements for DirectQuery models.

As always, we'll be detailing these updates in our next (October) newsletter. Please remember we have 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.