Incremental Refresh: this allows you optimize all refreshes so you don’t have to refresh all of the historical data every time you do a refresh. This feature makes your refresh much faster & reliable.
Hierarchical Slicer: create hierarchies in your Slicer by inserting more than 1 column in the slicer field;
Figure 1: Hierarchy slicer
New DAX Functions: FirstNonBlankValue, LastNonBlankValue
Title bar updates
Microsoft 385 usage analytics
Non-admin support for query diagnostics
New Connectors: Microstrategy, FHIR, Factset, TIBCO, Jamf Pro & Asana.
Improved report usage metrics
March
Dual axis for Line Chart now available
Page navigation action type for buttons:
Page navigation
Drill through
Multi-column sort for tables i.e. you can now sort items in a Table/Matrix chart based on more than 1 field.
Filter pane search
Updates for decomposition tree:
Bars per level formatting option
Updates to behavior of data bar length
New ribbon now on by default
New DAX functions: COALSCE
Query diagnostics
Connectors: Hive LLAP & Cognite
Enhanced dataset metadata (preview)
New search experience for Power BI service
April
Personalize visuals
Conditional formatting for totals & subtotals in the Table & Matrix
Rectangular lasso select across visuals: users can now select multiple visuals with a simple click & drag.
Change detection for page refresh
Relative time filter
Customize theme dialog: ability to customize theme to one’s taste became generally available
Improved discoverability for conditional formatting
Direct Query support for AI visuals i.e. Decomposition tree & Key influencers
Q&A visual now updated
COVID-19 Apps
Enhancements to query diagnostics
May
Drop shadow support for visuals
Apply all filters
Curate featured tables for Excel
Drill through action type for buttons
Buttons now support fill images
Copy a visual as image
Filter pane migration
Direct Query on Dataflows
Web by example automatically suggests tables by default
New icons included. Can be found via: Format > Items > Expand/collapse icon
Stepped layout indentation i.e. space between expand/collapse icons can now be adjusted
Line chart dot formatting options i.e. can now select different colors for every data (dot) point.
Automatic page refresh
Modern ribbon now generally available
AI insights
Agile HR analytics (Template App)
Uber User Data Report (Template App)
Palantir Foundry connector: A platform that reimagines how people use data by removing the barriers between backend data management & frontend data analysis
Dark mode for iOS app
July
Gradient legend for charts i.e. conditional formatting can be added to charts e.g. bar chart with legend.
Ability to rename Slicer header text: especially useful during hierarchical slicing.
Relative time filter made generally available
Enhancements to Q&A
Support for Excel financial functions
Model view enabled for live connect made generally available
Global option to disable automatic type detection
Launch external tools from Power BI Desktop (preview)
Page view for Paginated Reports
Sensitivity labels persist when a report is embedded in an app
Label inheritance upon creation of new content
August
Perspectives support for Personalize visuals
Rectangular lasso select for data points (preview): i.e. you can now select data points on a viz by clicking & dragging over its plotting area. Available for Line, Area & Scatter charts.
Added dynamic formatting support to more visuals
Direct Query support for Q&A(preview)
Text/CSV by Example (preview)
New Connectors: Cherwell, Automation Anywhere & Acterys.
Multiple data lakes support for Dataflows
Updated headers & navigation in Mobile
Data protection updates
September
Smart Narratives(preview): this feature provides relevant customizable insights from your chart.
Total labels available for stacked visuals e.g. Stacked bar chart
Q&A now supports arithmetic operations: addition, subtraction, division & multiplication.
Mobile authoring enhancements
Bookmark made available for Mobile layout view
Can turn off gridlines & snap to grid
Pinch & zoom made available in all report views
Data point rectangle select for additional charts
Added general visual option to maintain layer order
Share from Power BI (iOS & Android)
Auto play a slideshow on startup (Windows)
Excel inherits the Power BI dataset’s sensitivity label when using a PivotTable connection
New Connectors: CDS connector (preview), Azure Databricks, MariaDB & Hexagon PPM Smart API
October
Power BI icon update
Canvas watermarks: this feature makes it easy for beginners to navigate the Power BI Desktop
Figure 2: Canvass watermark
Personalize visuals now generally available
Desktop splash screen dismiss: i.e. you can now close the Power BI desktop while it’s loading instead of having to wait for it to finish loading before closing.
Figure 3: Splash screen dismiss
Data point rectangle select for Treemap
Automatic Table Detection from Excel & JSON files
New Connectors: Spigit, eWay-CRM
Power BI for HoloLens 2 (preview)
Automatic page refresh is now supported on the Windows app.
Simplified installation
November
New Field List
New Model View
Anomaly Detection in the analytics pane for charts like Line, Area or Scatter Charts
Visual Zoom Slider now available for charts
Apply all filters now generally available
Data point rectangle select extended to Map visual
Q&A now supports partial matching data values
New connectors: Actian, Anaplan & Starburst Presto
Certified & Promoted reports & apps
December
Small multiples: can be found in the fields list & formatted in the format pane
Direct Query for Power BI datasets & Analysis Services
Increased rectangle select data point limit (now 3500)
Selection pane is now available in mobile layout view
Dark mode support in the Power BI Android app
Anomaly detection is now supported in all mobile apps (iOS, Android & Windows)
Microsoft Dataverse connector
Custom publish message
New export settings available in Power BI admin portal
Power BI Premium per user public preview now available
New Admin APIs
NB: Some of the features are still in preview mode and will need to be enabled first to access. Preview features can be enabled from Preview features option under the Options & Settings dialog.
That’s all for 2020.
My highlight features include Smart Narratives, the dual axis for Line chart, the drop shadow & of course, the new Power BI icon. What’s yours?
Hey there! Thanks for stopping by. I'm Zainab Balogun, a lover of big data, a part-time writer and artist & a full time bookworm. Check out my blog on Medium & My LinkedIn Profile