Difference between revisions of "Release Waves"

Latest revision as of 07:47, 6 August 2024

New features come to Power Platform and Dynamics 365 in what is called Release Waves.

You can read about how to Opt-in early here.

Release Plans

The documentation of what is about to be rolled out in a certain Release Wave is called Release Plan. There is a dedicated wiki pages for Release Plans where it is described how the documentation is built up.

Understanding the timeline

There are two Release Waves each year. One from April to September and one from October to March. There is an Early Access period two months in prior to the start of the wave. You then have the option to do an early opt-in, which means turn on the Release Wave in a certain environment and be able to try out the upcoming features. In prior to the Early Access period Release Plans are made official, i.e. documentation about the upcoming features.

The picture is taken from MS Docs, Opt in to early access updates, old dates but still relevant!

Early Opt-in and Early Access

Opt-in early for a certain wave and you will be able to try out Early Access features before the roll out.

Feature lifecycle

Features have a lifecycle.

Private Preview
Public Preview
General Availability
Deprecation

As long as a feature is in preview it is not intended to be used in production. The feature might change. When a feature is General Available it is ready to be used in production. Keep an eye on what is going to be deprecated.

In MS Docs you can often see (preview) behind headings in chapters describing features that are in preview. Keep an eye on the Power Apps blog where Public Preview and General Availability announcements often are announced. Microsoft Events are also known for announcing new features as in Public Preview or General Available.

Read more about it here: MS Docs about the feature lifecycle.

Also see the Wiki pages Public Preview where preview features are gathered and Deprecations which describe what Deprecation means.

Release Waves

There are dedicated wiki pages for specific Release Waves in the past.

Community Resources

About Release Waves by Carina M. Claesson
Explaining “One Version” – Dynamics 365 MDA by Benedikt Bergmann

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 Read the [https://dynamics.microsoft.com/en-us/roadmap/overview/ Roadmap here].
-You can read in MS Docs about [https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/opt-in-early-access-updates releases here].
+You can read about how to [https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/opt-in-early-access-updates Opt-in early here].
 [[Release Plans]] are [https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/release-plans/ found here].
@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 == Understanding the timeline ==
-There are two Release Waves each year. One from April to September and one from October to March. There is an Early Access period two months in prior to the start of the wave. You then have the option to do an early opt-in, which means turn on the Release Wave in a certain environment and be able to try out the upcoming features. In prior to the Early Access period Release Plans are made official, i.e. documentation about the upcoming features. Release Plans are typically released two months before the Early Access period.
+[[File:Opt-in-2020-timeline.png|frameless|right|500px]]
+There are two Release Waves each year. One from April to September and one from October to March. There is an Early Access period two months in prior to the start of the wave. You then have the option to do an early opt-in, which means turn on the Release Wave in a certain environment and be able to try out the upcoming features. In prior to the Early Access period Release Plans are made official, i.e. documentation about the upcoming features.
+The picture is taken from MS Docs, [https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/opt-in-early-access-updates Opt in to early access updates], old dates but still relevant!
 == Early Opt-in and Early Access ==
 Opt-in early for a certain wave and you will be able to try out Early Access features before the roll out.
+== Feature lifecycle ==
+Features have a lifecycle.
+* Private Preview
+* Public Preview
+* General Availability
+* Deprecation
+As long as a feature is in preview it is not intended to be used in production. The feature might change. When a feature is General Available it is ready to be used in production. Keep an eye on what is going to be deprecated.
+In MS Docs you can often see (preview) behind headings in chapters describing features that are in preview. Keep an eye on the [https://powerapps.microsoft.com/sv-se/blog/ Power Apps blog] where Public Preview and General Availability announcements often are announced. [[Microsoft Events]] are also known for announcing new features as in Public Preview or General Available.
+Read more about it here: [https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/modules/describe-service-life-cycle-microsoft-365/2-private-public-general-availability MS Docs about the feature lifecycle].
+Also see the Wiki pages [[Public Preview]] where preview features are gathered and [[Deprecations]] which describe what Deprecation means.
 == Release Waves ==
-There are dedicated wiki pages for the two latest Release Waves where summaries from the Community is gathered.
+There are dedicated wiki pages for specific Release Waves in the past.
+* [[2024 Release Wave 2]]
+* [[2024 Release Wave 1]]
+* [[2023 Release Wave 2]]
+* [[2023 Release Wave 1]]
+* [[2022 Release Wave 2]]
+* [[2022 Release Wave 1]]
 * [[2021 Release Wave 2]]
 * [[2021 Release Wave 1]]