The hosts react to major announcements by the Microsoft team, including Power BI, Microsoft Fabric, and daily tasks. They discuss the surprise release of Microsoft Fabric for production workloads and the integration of CoPilot into Microsoft products. They emphasize the importance of curated data models and the benefits of the DAX query view. They also discuss new slicers and visual improvements that will enhance the reporting experience. The episode ends with promotions and announcements from the hosts.
Microsoft fabric is now generally available for production workloads, allowing users to use fabric for their production environments.
CoPilot in Microsoft fabric offers AI-powered assistance in building reports and writing DAX and M code, making report development more efficient and user-friendly.
Power BI unveiled enhancements in visuals and data connectivity, including improved visuals with features like reference labels and titles, and direct-lake support for semantic models, aiming to improve the overall user experience in report creation and data exploration.
Deep dives
Fabric becomes generally available for production workloads
Microsoft Ignite announced that Microsoft fabric is now generally available for production workloads. This allows users to use fabric for their production environments, marking a major milestone in the adoption and usability of fabric.
CoPilot brings AI-powered assistance to Power BI development
One of the major announcements at Microsoft Ignite was the introduction of CoPilot in Microsoft fabric for report building. CoPilot, previously known as smart narrative, offers AI-powered assistance in building reports and writing DAX and M code. It provides suggestions, automates parts of the report creation process, and even generates code snippets for advanced calculations, making report development more efficient and user-friendly.
Improvements in Power BI visuals and data connectivity
Microsoft Ignite unveiled several enhancements in Power BI visuals and data connectivity. These improvements include enhanced visuals with features like reference labels, graphics, and titles, as well as improvements in the Q&A experience for more accurate and contextual insights. Additionally, Power BI now offers direct-lake support for semantic models, allowing users to connect to both lakehouses and data warehouses. These updates aim to improve the overall user experience in report creation and data exploration.
The Power BI semantic model is no longer the end of the road for analytical solutions
The podcast episode highlights the significance of the new features and capabilities in Power BI, specifically the ability to query the Power BI semantic model from a data lake using T SQL Python, and the option to extract large wide tables of information from Excel rather than relying on building complex tables inside the software. These innovations signify that the Power BI semantic model is no longer the final destination for analytical solutions, but rather a part of a broader analytical journey with numerous possibilities. While these features introduce immense potential, it is also acknowledged that they may create challenges such as maintaining dependency checks and understanding downstream impacts of changes.
The introduction of DAX query view and enhanced slicers in Power BI
The podcast episode explores two significant additions to Power BI: the DAX query view and the new button slicer. The DAX query view brings capabilities typically found in third-party tools like DAX Studio and Tabular Editor into Power BI Desktop, allowing developers to optimize and test DAX queries more efficiently. This feature caters to advanced users and provides a stepping stone to deeper DAX development. The new button slicer, created by Miguel Myers, addresses the limitations of previous slicers by offering greater styling and customization options. This enhancement enables users to create visually appealing and interactive reports. The discussion also highlights the importance of clear documentation and streamlined transformations to make report creation and maintenance easier.
So - slightly HUGE announcements by the Microsoft team around Power BI, Microsoft Fabric, and generally what we do on a daily basis. Mike, Seth, & Tommy react to the major features you do not want to miss.
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