The SCCM technical preview 2012 is out and this will be the final technical preview release of year 2020. This is the 15th ConfigMgr Technical Preview release and I must say this is amazing work by product team.
With every new MEMCM technical preview release, we saw new features and improvements. Some of these new features also made it to current branch release.
Configuration Manager technical preview 2012 comes with lots of new features. To know what’s new in technical preview 2012 release, refer the Microsoft Documentation.
SCCM 2010 is the latest current branch release and perform the 2010 upgrade using SCCM 2010 upgrade guide. To know about all the previous technical preview builds details, refer technical preview build numbers.
Install Configuration Manager Technical Preview 2012
You can install SCCM Technical Preview 2012 from Updates and Servicing node.
- Launch the Configuration Manager console.
- Go to Administration > Overview > Updates and Servicing.
- Right click Configuration Manager Technical Preview 2012 and click Install Update Pack.
The SCCM technical preview 2012 version includes.
- Configuration Manager site server and console updates
- Client Updates
- Fixes for known issues
- New Features.
Since this is a technical preview update, I will ignore the prerequisite check warnings and directly install the update. Click Next.
Click Next on remaining screens and Close the updates wizard.
Next, upgrade the Configuration Manager console. Click OK to upgrade the console to 5.2103.1018.1000.
You may verify the technical preview 2012 install details by checking About Configuration Manager.
- Version – 2012 for Technical Preview.
- Console version – 5.2103.1018.1000.
- Site version – 5.0.9043.1000.
After installing the TP 2012, you must upgrade your client agents. The new client version is 5.00.9043.1000.
SCCM Technical Preview 2012 New Features
Let’s take a look at the new features in technical preview 2012 release.
Improved user experience and security with Software Center custom tabs
Starting in this release, Software Center can now use the Microsoft Edge WebView2 browser control. Install WebView2 browser that provides improved security and user experience.
Prerequisites for Software Center custom tabs
Software Center custom tabs requires the following new prerequisites.
- Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.6.2 or later
- Microsoft Edge WebView2 runtime via the Evergreen standalone installer
Access Community hub from CMPivot
With this new feature, you can now access the top CMPivot queries shared in the Community hub from on-premises CMPivot. Click the Community Hub icon on the top right corner.
On-premises CMPivot accesses the Community hub and returns a list of the top downloaded CMPivot queries. Users can review the top queries, customize them, and then run on-demand.
Disable Application Deployments
In technical preview 2012, this new feature lets you disable the application deployment.
In the Configuration Manager console, go to the Software Library>Application Management. Select an app that you’ve deployed. In the details pane, switch to the Deployment tab. Select a deployment. Right click and select Disable.
For a user-based deployment, the user needs to sign out of Windows. Policy updates when they sign in to Windows, or every 24 hours by default. For a device-based deployment, note the name of the collection in Collection field of the deployment.
Task Sequence Error shows more check readiness details
The SCCM task sequence progress can now display more information about readiness checks. The admins still see the common task sequence error message, but can now select an option to Inspect. This action shows the checks that failed on the device.
Get console extensions from the Community hub
In my previous post I covered on unable to load community hub in Configuration Manager. The Community hub now supports sharing extensions to the Configuration Manager console.
When you get an extension from the hub, it’s available in a new Console extensions node in the console. Most of all an administrator has to approve the extension for the site. Then console users can install the extension to their local console.
After you approve an extension, when you open the console, you’ll see a console notification. From the notification, you can start the extension installer. After the installer completes, the console restarts automatically, and then you can use the extension.
Windows 10 Servicing dashboard changes
With this release you get to see a simplified Windows 10 Servicing dashboard.
- New Quality Update Versions chart displays the top five revisions of Windows 10 across your devices.
- The Latest Feature Update chart shows the number of devices that installed the latest feature update.
- The Windows 10 Usage chart, is renamed to Feature Update Versions.
- Servicing plan and Windows 10 ring information have been removed from the dashboard.
