September 2024 Updates for Power BI

Some big news for those that like to “go dark”.

As of these latest updates, you can now choose from a variety of themes for Power BI Desktop, including the oft-requested dark mode.  You may now personalise it to match your preferences and working environment.  In addition, Microsoft has now consolidated similar options in the menu bar and streamlined the button text for better readability and more responsive screen sizing.

The Copilot chat pane will now automatically provide text-based answers and summaries across all pages in a report.  Previously, users had to specifically request cross-page summaries or click a ‘base summary on the entire report’ button.  With this update, cross-page summaries and answers are now the default setting.

There is also a transformative new feature designed to redefine how you might manage and consume metrics, featuring visuals and Copilot insights Called Metrics Hub.  This is an innovative metric layer within Fabric, aimed at helping you define, discover and reuse trusted metrics in a straightforward fashion.  This feature allows trusted creators within an organisation to develop standardised metrics that incorporate essential business logic, ensuring consistency.

The full list of updates is as follows:

General

• Dark mode is now available in Power BI Desktop

Copilot and AI

• Default full report summaries and answers in the Copilot pane

Reporting

• Updated menu bar in Power BI Service view mode
• Visual calculations update (Preview)
• Visual level format strings (Preview)
• Power BI in Teams: now supporting Multi Factor Authentication
• Multiple organisation applications per workspace with custom colours available (Preview)
• Subscribe to reports on the last day of the month   

Modelling

• Introducing Fabric Metrics Layer: metric management in Fabric (Preview)
• Live edit of semantic models in Direct Lake mode with Power BI Desktop
• Q&A now supports semantic models with OLS 

Data Connectivity

• Connected tables in Excel are now available in Semi-Annual channel

Mobile

• NFC tag support in Power BI Mobile

Visualisations

• New in AppSource:
  • KPI by Powerviz
  • Drill Down Combo Bar PRO by ZoomCharts
  • BI Pixie by DataChant: measure the engagement of your BI audience
  • Decomposition Tree by JTA

Other

•  Announcing the General Availability of the ‘Get data’ experience in Power BI Report Builder.

As always, we'll be detailing these updates in our October 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.