Power Query New Versions - How Do I Know?

Are there resources / methods to learn
1) when a new version of Power Query is released
2) what's in the new Power Query release

For instance, PQ update 2.29.4217.1861 was released on Feb 23, 2016 without fanfare or documentation. The only thing that jumped out was 'Monospaced' font availability on 'View' menu.

Microsoft does not seem to advertise when updates become available or their feature set.

I usually wait until someone (like Ken Puls) writes about the update in a blog.

Thank you!

Hey there,

So yes and no. There isn't an easy way to point you to a page of recent updates, unfortunately. The best resource is the Microsoft Excel Blog, but that gets all kinds of stuff, so you have to basically watch for Power Query (Get & Transform) in the blog titles. Here is a link to the March 2016 update.

The other option you have is to watch this page on Power BI Desktop. This page is updated monthly and tends to be about 1-2 months ahead of Excel. (The main release schedule goes PBID first, then Excel.)

Thanks, Ken. This is exactly what I needed. There are several new features which I had not noticed.

Your blog will be an excellent resource for these types of notifications.

My observation is that items such as 'Add prefix/suffix to a Text column' are already available using the 'M' language.
1) They now being simplified and exposed on the toolbar
2) Perhaps more clear examples in the Power Query Forumla Reference could explain simple but useful things like how to add a prefix to a column using the Table.TransformColumns function.
3) This would accelerate use of M instead of waiting for capabilities to appear in the Power Query toolbar

Honestly, all the "one click transformations" they add can already be done via the M language. They are building those to make it much easier to do.

Re the update notifications, I'll try to keep an eye on them. I missed the last blog post I think.

I use this link, which searches the Excel blog for mentions of Power Query:

http://blogs.office.com/?s=power+query

Good stuff, Mike. I think I'll add that to the main sticky thread on the subject. (And hopefully they don't drop the Power Query term any time soon.