Getting started with powerbi
Remarks#
The heart of Power BI is a cloud-hosted service for data integration and visualization.
Power BI has a Free Edition with broad functionality, and a Pro Edition, available on a monthly subscription. Power BI is hosted by Microsoft on their “Azure” cloud service.
Power BI is comprised of several tools, web experiences and APIs. Naming of specific components is sometimes confused, so this page attempts to clarify this. These are the main components, with a brief description:
- Power BI web app
- The URL for this is https://app.powerbi.com
- This is the main user experience for viewing and interacting with published Power BI content - Dashboards, Reports and Datasets.
- Admin features e.g. security / sharing, scheduled refresh etc are also managed here.
- Requires an O365 account.
- Power BI Desktop
- Can be downloaded from https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/desktop
- A (free) Windows app intended for data integration and authoring of visualizations.
- Includes a Query Editor window which leverages the Power Query (Excel Add-In) to provide data integration with a wide range of sources (databases, files, web services etc).
- Can be used without an account.
- Power BI Custom Visuals
- Old Gallery URL (will be removed): https://app.powerbi.com/visuals
- New Gallery URL: https://store.office.com/en-us/appshome.aspx?productgroup=PowerBI
- Power BI JavaScript API
- Power BI Embedded API
- Power BI REST API
Changelogs can be found here: PowerBI Service, PowerBI Mobile, PowerBI Desktop - Latest Version, Historic Versions
Versions#
| "Name" | PowerBI Desktop Version | Date |
|---|---|---|
| April 2017 Update | 2.45.4704.442 | 2017-04-01 |
| March 2017 Update | 2.44.4675.422 | 2017-03-01 |
| February 2017 Update | 2.43.4647.541 | 2017-02-01 |
| January 2017 Update | 2.42.4611.482 | 2017-01-01 |
| November 2016 Update | 2.41.4581.301 | 2016-11-01 |
| October 2016 Update | 2.40.4554.361 | 2016-10-01 |
| September 2016 Update | 2.39.4526.362 | 2016-09-01 |
| August 2016 Update | 2.37.4464.321 | 2016-08-01 |
| July 2016 Update | 2.37.4464.321 | 2016-07-01 |
| June 2016 Update | 2.36.4434.362 | 2016-06-01 |
| May 2016 Update | 2.35.4399.381 | 2016-05-01 |
| April 2016 Update | 2.34.4372.322 | 2016-04-01 |
| March 2016 Update | 2.33.4337.281 | 2016-03-01 |
| February 2016 Update | 2.32.4307.362 | 2016-02-01 |
| January 2016 Update | 2.31.4280.361 | 2016-01-01 |
| December 2015 Update | 2.30.4246.181 | 2015-12-01 |
| November 2015 Update | 2.29.4217.221 | 2015-11-01 |
| October 2015 Update | 2.28.4190.122 | 2015-10-01 |
| September 2015 Update | 2.27.4163.351 | 2015-09-01 |
| August 2015 Update | 2.26.4128.403 | 2015-08-01 |
| July 2015 Update | 2.25.4095.554 | 2015-07-01 |
| May 2015 Update | 2.23.4036.161 | 2015-05-01 |
| April 2015 Update | 2.22.4009.122 | 2015-04-01 |
| March 2015 Update | 2.21.3975.261 | 2015-03-01 |
| February 2015 Update | 2.20.3945.102 | 2015-02-01 |
Installation or Setup
PowerBI reports can be created using PowerBI Desktop application.
Download link: https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/desktop/
Requirements (as of 5 April 2017):
- Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008 R2, or later
- .NET 4.5
- Internet Explorer 9 or later
- Memory (RAM): At least 1 GB available, 1.5 GB or more recommended.
- Display: At least 1440x900 or 1600x900 (16:9) recommended. Lower resolutions such as 1024x768 or 1280x800 are not recommended, as
certain controls (such as closing the startup screen) display beyond those resolutions.
- CPU: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster x86- or x64-bit processor recommended.