Earlier this week there were some very interesting announcements about Microsoft Test Base at Microsoft Inspire, the annual conference for the Microsoft Partner community! So before I switch my “Vacation Mode” on, let’s have a quick glance at what’s new with Test Base!
Support testing for Microsoft 365 Apps
Testing against the latest Microsoft 365 Apps builds in preview channel is now generally available for all Test Base accounts. This means you can now also test your apps or add-ons against the latest pre-release Microsoft 365 Apps updates and gain confidence that they will keep working.
One thing to note is that when you already have Feature updates also selected in the test matrix of your existing package, it is recommended to clone the existing package. This is because only Security Update is currently supported with the update cadence for the Microsoft 365 Apps updates. If you try to enable it on a package that has Feature Updates enable, a notification will be displayed:
For step-by-step guidance on this new feature, please check out Microsoft’s documentation here.
Flow driven test for in-place upgrade to Windows 11
To help out customers in testing their applications for an in-place upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, Microsoft now expanded the test matrix with a flow driven test option. In this flow driven scenario, you can re-arrange the order of scripts and specify whether they need to be executed before or after the upgrade.
Additionally, Microsoft also announced that preview build of Windows 11 23H2 will be available in Test Base soon! To receive this new package, activate Feature Update with Insider Beta Channel selected. If you’ve already registered, your applications will be automatically validated against all upcoming feature updates.
New preview features
Microsoft also announced several new features that are soon to be released as preview features.
Testing apps for Windows on ARM
For those running ARM devices, good news! ARM 64 will be added to the test matrix!
Custom image support
This might be my favorite Test Base announcement! Customers that do have a custom Windows 10 or Windows 11 image that is being used with Configuration Manager or other deployment tools will soon be able to upload their custom image and use it in the test matrix to:
- Validate the upgrade readiness via in-place upgrade approach by testing the basic apps pre-installed in the custom image with the settings that will work and continue to work after upgrading to Windows 11.
- Conduct regular validation against monthly security updates by centralizing critical apps or inviting the app owners across business units to self-onboard their apps. Regular tests can be carried out as soon as the latest security updates become available against the custom image to verify if all apps continue to work with reusable test cases to be executed automatically.
Support package uploads from Winget
Another big announcement, as being able to upload/import packages directly from Winget will make it a lot easier to onboard applications in Test Base and reduce the need for manually uploading the binaries. With over 4000 curated applications (with various versions available) currently offered in the Winget gallery, it’s definitely worth checking to see if the application you want to test is already available in there. It can save you a lot of time and effort!
Both the custom image and Winget support features will be available in private preview by the end of July. To get access to the private preview features, you will need to sign up through this form.
With this, it’s time to wrap up for some needed vacation, but expect some more in depth reviews of these new preview features in August!