Power BI May 25 update - GA

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As we hit the May release notes, we again focus on the GA features for Power BI. As we're in a build month, I won't be covering anything from the big build announcements (those are in a seperate blog) nor any preview features (again a seperate blog as normal).

Again, as always, sometimes it isn't clear if a new feature is actually in preview from the release notes (e.g. this months TMDL changes are associated with a preview feature but not labeled as preview in the blog).  Please do double check before you use these features in production.

First up, is the reminder that as of August 2025 the 32 bit version of Power BI desktop will be depricated. If you are still running it today, then do upgrade to the 64 bit version asap.

Copilot and AI

Updates to language layer for understanding data questions
This month we've had improvements for improvements of how relative dates are handled - as well as something called 'generation of proper filters'.

Not sure what that last bit means, but anything that makes the response from Copilot more consistent is always welcome.

Reporting

Customise line segment colors in line charts

Really simple one that allows the highlighting of specific points under a line graph for clarity. Good start, but will be more powerful when it gets the advanced features mentioned in the blog.

Base map customisation for Azure Maps Visual

We now have a few additional options that can be added to the maps:
  • Country boarders
  • State/province boarders
  • County boarders
  • Buildings
  • Detailed/minor roads

Tenant settings for Azure Maps

Couple of new settings that allow you to select in data is processed outside the tenant's geographic region and to allow for the use of certified Microsoft Online Services sub processors.

With these changes coming, you'll need to upgrade to the April '25 version of PBI desktop (or later) if you are using this visual.

Azure Maps Layer ordering updates

With the June release, the order that map layers has been updated to fix a known issue with overlapping elements.

Teams Power BI app Navigation menu changes

Changes will be coming soon that simplify the app.

UX changes when discourage implicit measures is enabled

If you have discourage implicit measures enabled (it's disabled by default), you'll see options disabled if you try to use an implicit measure with them.

Typically this occurs when using calculation groups as this setting will be enabled.

Modeling

Selection Expressions for calculation groups

This provices more granular control over what happens when calculation groups hit specific criteria. This month we have:
  • Multiple or empty selection - i.e. multiple items selected, non-existing item selected or conflicting selection is made
  • No selection - i.e. the calculation group isn't filtered

With this we also get a new setting on the semantic model to decide how calculations are evaluated for totals/subtotals - and what to return if no expression is defined.


Beyond this, it's the usual connector improvements and 3rd partyh visualisations.

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