Fabric Runtime 2.0 (Generally Available), marks a major milestone for Microsoft Fabric. As the execution foundation for Microsoft Fabric's Data Engineering and Data Science experiences, Runtime 2.0 delivers a modern, high-performance platform built on Apache Spark and deeply integrated across the Fabric ecosystem.
Purpose-built for large-scale data processing and analytics workloads, Runtime 2.0 represents a major advancement in performance, reliability, security, and future readiness. Built on the latest open-source innovations, it enables customers to accelerate data processing, simplify operations, and take advantage of the newest capabilities across Microsoft Fabric.
Customers can begin adopting Runtime 2.0 today by selecting it at either the workspace or environment level as indicated in the following screenshot which shows selection at the Workspace settings level.
Figure: Change Runtime at the workspace settings level
This release includes significant platform upgrades, including Apache Spark 4.1, Delta Lake 4.2, Python 3.13, Java 21, Scala 2.13, and Azure Linux 3.0, providing a modern and enterprise-ready foundation for the next generation of data engineering, data science, and analytics workloads.
These enhancements enable customers to take advantage of the latest open-source innovations while continuing to benefit from a fully managed, enterprise-grade experience in Microsoft Fabric. Whether you're building data pipelines, developing AI and machine learning solutions, processing streaming workloads, or powering enterprise analytics, Runtime 2.0 provides a more capable, scalable, and performant platform for your workloads.
Runtime 2.0 also unlocks access to the latest capabilities and APIs from Spark 4.1 and Delta Lake 4.2, allowing customers to immediately benefit from new functionality while ensuring a smooth transition to newer platform components such as Python 3.13, Java 21, and Scala 2.13.
In addition, Runtime 2.0 continues to advance the Native Execution Engine (NEE), one of the platform's key innovations. NEE accelerates supported Spark SQL and Dataframe workloads through native execution paths that improve query performance and reduce execution times for common analytics scenarios. Customers retain full Spark compatibility while benefiting from additional performance gains on supported workloads. As NEE support continues to expand, more workloads will automatically take advantage of native execution without requiring any code changes and with no additional costs.
Note: While Runtime 2.0 is generally available and ready for production use, it will not become the default runtime immediately. We are intentionally providing customers who rely on the current default runtime additional time to validate their workloads and plan their migration by explicitly opting into Runtime 2.0. We currently plan to make Runtime 2.0 the default runtime selection in the user experience and the default runtime for new workspaces and environment items in late September 2026. This phased approach allows customers to adopt and validate Runtime 2.0 at their own pace while benefiting from a predictable transition timeline.
With improved performance, updated open-source foundations, and continued investment in capabilities such as the Native Execution Engine, Runtime 2.0 provides a modern platform for data engineering, data science, and analytics workloads in Microsoft Fabric.
Explore the full documentation and start using Runtime 2.0 in production today: Runtime 2.0 in Fabric - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn
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