Introduction

Microsoft released SCCM TP 1908 this week, and I will highlight the most important features in this post.

Most features result from UserVoice feedback which is great for us, so don’t forget to use the send feedback button!

New Features

Run Task Sequence with High Performance Power Plan

There is a new option to run a task sequence using the power plan High Performance. This means you no longer have to configure it manually using command-line inside the TS. If the computer restarts this is reapplies the High Performance settings automatically.

You can find the new property by choosing the TS and selecting Properties.
Switch to the Performance tab and enable the option Run as high performance power plan.

CMPivot Standalone Queries for Local Device

CMPivot can now be used outside of the SCCM Console and can query the local device without using the SCCM infrastructure. We use WMI to perform the queries, and this enables us to test queries locally before using them inside SCCM.

For instructions on how to install CMPivot standalone, follow this link.

Software Updates Can Now Use Deployed as a Property Filter

When creating new ADRs, you configure different properties to filter what updates to include.
You now have the option to filter out updates to avoid redeployment or to deploy only new updates to pilot devices.

Delivery Optimization Now Supports All Windows Updates

We can only use Delivery Optimization for express updates in the current release of SCCM. In this TP it is possible to use it to distribute all Windows Updates for 1709 or later.

You can enable the feature in the Client Settings under the Software Updates section.
The option is called Allow clients to download delta content when available and should be set to Yes.

Delivery Optimization is already a good tool, and the new feature makes it even better for those remote sites with low bandwidth.
The more we can share content using delta download the benefits will be much higher.

Related post: How to find Delivery Optimization status in Windows 10

Phased Deployment Templates

Just like deployment templates, we can now create templates for phased deployments for use with software updates. 
Press the Save As Template button when creating a phased deployment to save it for later use.

Copy and Paste Task Sequence Conditions

Finally, it is possible to copy task sequence conditions to another step in the TS. This is a long-sought feature, ever since it became possible to copy steps between task sequences.
It is even possible to copy entire condition blocks and to move conditions up and down.

This is probably my favorite feature in this TP release, since I often have to copy between sequences.

Configure Keyboard Layout in Windows PE

Have you ever had issues with a foreign keyboard layout in Windows PE? 
I have, and finally we can change it using a simple method.

In Boot Image properties, on the Customization tab, you can select the language you want with the option Set default keyboard layout in WinPE.It will always include English as a secondary input language if you need it. 

You can also use PowerShell and the new cmdlet Set-CMBootImage to set the keyboard layout.

# Set boot image keyboard layout to Swedish (Sweden)
Set-CMBootimage -Id "P0200004" -InputLocale "se-sv"

Summary

Again Microsoft delivers a TP with features we have been asking for. Let’s just hope that all of them make it to a future CB release, so we can use them in production.

You can find the article for SCCM TP 1908 here.