diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index 537da22cf..320aed3bb 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -47,3 +47,9 @@ repos:
     rev: 25.1.0
     hooks:
     - id: black
+
+### does not work .... lots of errors
+#  - repo: https://github.com/pycqa/flake8
+#    rev: 7.3.0#
+#    hooks:
+#    - id: flake8
diff --git a/azure-pipelines-templates/run-tests.yml b/azure-pipelines-templates/run-tests.yml
index c1a1a4ef8..60c8b9b01 100644
--- a/azure-pipelines-templates/run-tests.yml
+++ b/azure-pipelines-templates/run-tests.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-# Copyright (c) 2009-2021, Shotgun Software Inc.
+# Copyright (c) 2009-2025, Shotgun Software Inc.
 #
 # Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
 # modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
@@ -28,57 +28,50 @@
 
 # This is the list of parameters for this template and their default values.
 parameters:
-  name: ''
-  vm_image: ''
+  # name: ''
+  # vm_image: ''
+  python_version: ''
 
-jobs:
-  # The job will be named after the OS and Azure will suffix the strategy to make it unique
-  # so we'll have a job name "Windows Python 3.9" for example. What's a strategy? Strategies are the
-  # name of the keys under the strategy.matrix scope. So for each OS we'll have "<OS> Python 3.9" and
-  # "<OS> Python 3.10".
-- job: ${{ parameters.name }}
-  pool:
-    vmImage: ${{ parameters.vm_image }}
-  # The strategy is another way of removing repetition. It will create one job per entry in the
-  # matrix.
-  strategy:
-    matrix:
-      # We support these versions of Python.
-      Python 3.9:
-        python.version: '3.9'
-      Python 3.10:
-        python.version: '3.10'
-      Python 3.11:
-        python.version: '3.11'
-
-    maxParallel: 4
+# jobs:
+#   # The job will be named after the OS and Azure will suffix the strategy to make it unique
+#   # so we'll have a job name "Windows Python 3.9" for example. What's a strategy? Strategies are the
+#   # name of the keys under the strategy.matrix scope. So for each OS we'll have "<OS> Python 3.9" and
+#   # "<OS> Python 3.10".
+# - job:
+#   strategy:
+#     parallel: 3
+#   displayName: ${{ parameters.name }}
+#   pool:
+#     vmImage: ${{ parameters.vm_image }}
 
   variables:
     group: sg-credentials
 
-  # These are the steps that will be executed inside each job.
-  steps:
-  # Specifies which version of Python we want to use. That's where the strategy comes in.
-  # Each job will share this set of steps, but each of them will receive a different
-  # $(python.version)
+
+steps:
   # TODO: We should provide `githubToken` if we want to download a python release.
   #       Otherwise we may hit the GitHub anonymous download limit.
   - task: UsePythonVersion@0
     inputs:
-      versionSpec: '$(python.version)'
-      addToPath: True
+      versionSpec: ${{ parameters.python_version }}
 
   # Install all dependencies needed for running the tests. This command is good
   # for all OSes
-  - script: |
-      python -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel
-      python -m pip install -r tests/ci_requirements.txt
-    displayName: Install tools
+  - task: Bash@3
+    displayName: Install dependencies
+    inputs:
+      targetType: inline
+      script: |
+        python --version
+        python -c "import sys; print(sys.platform)"
+        pip install --upgrade pip
+        pip install --upgrade setuptools wheel
+        pip install --upgrade --requirement tests/ci_requirements.txt
 
   # The {{}} syntax is meant for the the pre-processor of Azure pipeline. Every statement inside
   # a {{}} block will be evaluated and substituted before the file is parsed to create the jobs.
   # So here we're inserting an extra step if the template is being invoked for Windows.
-  - ${{ if eq(parameters.name, 'Windows') }}:
+  - ${{ if startsWith(parameters.vm_image, 'windows') }}:
     # On Windows, we need to update the certificates, the cert store is missing the newer one
     # from Amazon like some clients experienced a while back. Who would have thought Microsoft
     # would have been out of date! ;)
@@ -92,10 +85,15 @@ jobs:
   # Runs the tests and generates test coverage. The tests results are uploaded to Azure Pipelines in the
   # Tests tab of the build and each test run will be named after the --test-run-title argument to pytest,
   # for example 'Windows - 2.7'
-  - bash: |
-      cp ./tests/example_config ./tests/config
-      pytest --durations=0 -v --cov shotgun_api3 --cov-report xml --test-run-title="${{parameters.name}}-$(python.version)"
+  - task: Bash@3
     displayName: Running tests
+    inputs:
+      targetType: inline
+      script: |
+        cp ./tests/example_config ./tests/config
+        pytest --durations=0 -v \
+          --cov shotgun_api3 --cov-report xml \
+          --test-run-title="${{parameters.name}}-${{ parameters.python_version }}"
     env:
       # Pass the values needed to authenticate with the Flow Production Tracking site and create some entities.
       # Remember, on a pull request from a client or on forked repos, those variables
@@ -130,21 +128,21 @@ jobs:
       SG_PLAYLIST_CODE: CI-$(python_api_human_login)-${{parameters.name}}-$(python.version)
 
   # Upload the code coverage result to codecov.io.
-  - ${{ if eq(parameters.name, 'Windows') }}:
+  - ${{ if startsWith(parameters.vm_image, 'windows') }}:
     - powershell: |
         $ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'
         Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://uploader.codecov.io/latest/windows/codecov.exe -Outfile codecov.exe
         .\codecov.exe -f coverage.xml
       displayName: Uploading code coverage
-  - ${{ elseif eq(parameters.name, 'Linux') }}:
+  - ${{ elseif startsWith(parameters.vm_image, 'macos') }}:
     - script: |
-        curl -Os https://uploader.codecov.io/latest/linux/codecov
+        curl -Os https://uploader.codecov.io/v0.7.3/macos/codecov
         chmod +x codecov
         ./codecov -f coverage.xml
       displayName: Uploading code coverage
   - ${{ else }}:
     - script: |
-        curl -Os https://uploader.codecov.io/v0.7.3/macos/codecov
-        chmod +x codecov
-        ./codecov -f coverage.xml
-      displayName: Uploading code coverage
+          curl -Os https://uploader.codecov.io/latest/linux/codecov
+          chmod +x codecov
+          ./codecov -f coverage.xml
+      displayName: Uploading code cover
diff --git a/azure-pipelines.yml b/azure-pipelines.yml
index b9be5ab7e..a2c919407 100644
--- a/azure-pipelines.yml
+++ b/azure-pipelines.yml
@@ -58,6 +58,30 @@ pr:
     include:
     - "*"
 
+parameters:
+  - name: test_python_versions
+    type: object
+    default:
+      - '3.9'
+      - '3.10'
+      - '3.11'
+
+  - name: test_os_versions
+    type: object
+    default:
+      - name: Windows
+        vm_image: windows-latest
+        # Select Windows first because it's slower
+
+      - name: macOS
+        vm_image: macOS-latest
+        # then mac because 2nd slower
+
+      - name: Linux
+        vm_image: ubuntu-latest
+        # finally Linux is the fastest
+
+
 # This here is the list of jobs we want to run for our build.
 # Jobs run in parallel.
 jobs:
@@ -71,20 +95,23 @@ jobs:
 
 - template: azure-pipelines-templates/type_checking.yml
 
-# These are jobs templates, they allow to reduce the redundancy between
-# variations of the same build. We pass in the image name
-# and a friendly name that then template can then use to create jobs.
-- template: azure-pipelines-templates/run-tests.yml
-  parameters:
-    name: Linux
-    vm_image: 'ubuntu-latest'
+# Run tests for all combinations of Python and OS
+- job:
+  strategy:
+    matrix:
+      ${{ each python_version in parameters.test_python_versions }}:
+        ${{ each os_version in parameters.test_os_versions }}:
+          "Tests ${{ os_version.name }} Python ${{ python_version }}":
+            imageName: '${{ os_version.vm_image }}'
+            python.version: '${{ python_version }}'
 
-- template: azure-pipelines-templates/run-tests.yml
-  parameters:
-    name: macOS
-    vm_image: 'macOS-latest'
+    maxParallel: 3
+    # limiting the parallel jobs to 3 to avoid race condition issues between tests..... :(
 
-- template: azure-pipelines-templates/run-tests.yml
-  parameters:
-    name: Windows
-    vm_image: 'windows-latest'
+  pool:
+    vmImage: $(imageName)
+
+  steps:
+    - template: azure-pipelines-templates/run-tests.yml
+      parameters:
+        python_version: $(python.version)