March 2020 Version of Power BI?

[Maureen]

Will there be a new release of Power BI in March 2020? I'm teaching a class with it and don't want to create materials until after the release if there is going to be one . . .

[edhans]

Probably, but it has been towards the middle of the month. I wouldn't try to create class materials based on a new desktop release. It changes every month (almost) and every version has multiple configurations. For example, there are two different menu bars in Power BI right now depending on whether or not you have the new ribbon enabled or not. Or you may or may not see the new theme tool depending on what features you have. It is definitely a product that is changing rapidly. Just stick to the basics and specify that any screenshots and options were done with the Feb 2020 build and may (probably will) change in future builds.

[stretcharm]

Yes, most months there is a release. Then tend only to skip before or after Christmas.

It used to be released about the 10th of the month however Feb was later (18th).  So they may go back to around the 10th or stay around the 18th.

As new releases are every month and most changes are minor I wouldn't wait until the release. All the core features are going to be the same. Only occasionally do they ship a big change like the ribbon or the filter pane and these would be a preview feature for the first few months.

[Greg_Deckler]

Very rarely is there ever a month that goes by that there is not a new version of the Desktop. We just had one January 2020 but that is an anomaly. In five years I can recall maybe 2 months. So, I would say that it is about 97% likely that there will be a March update for the Desktop.