Microsoft has begun rolling out a new, improved version of Teams, rebuilt from scratch for faster speeds and making it easier to use, in terms of staying on top of notifications, searching for information, managing messages, and organising chats. After years of development, now Windows and Mac users can freely install the new version, however, there is no additional cost to the current plan the user is on.
Microsoft claims it’s up to 2x faster, uses 50% less memory and, installing the new app should be 3x faster and launching/joining meeting 2x faster. The app also now takes up 70% less disk space.
This new Teams is also the foundation of Microsoft’s AI-powered Copilot push. It can be used to summarise meetings, read action items, and avoid long conversation threads. These improvements come from Microsoft ditching the Electron foundations and moving towards the Edge WebView2 technology. The company also chose to move to the React JavaScript library, focusing on improving the design with the Fluent design language system for multiple UI improvements.
During the preview months, there were some features missing which have now been added. Microsoft product lead Anupam Pattnaik said, “We have made notable progress since the launch of new Teams in public preview. New Teams now has full feature parity for almost all features including custom line-of-business apps, third-party apps, breakout rooms, 7×7 video, call queues, PSTN calling, contextual search in chats and channels, cross-post a channel conversation, and more.”
The new features will be exclusive to the new Teams, so upgrades are required for access. No migration is required, meaning upgrading is as simple as an update. Microsoft claims “classic Teams” users will automatically be upgraded in the coming months.
Originally, the new Teams wasn’t available for Mac users during preview, but with the final release for macOS, there are also improvements for Apple devices.
“We’re also seeing significant performance improvements on Mac, including the ability to switch between chats and channels faster, and access relevant information quickly and efficiently with a faster scrolling experience. Teams works natively on all Mac devices, including those with Apple silicon, giving Mac users an improved app experience.”
Enterprise users will now be able to see a toggle to upgrade, and it will become the default app in December. Flipping the toggle will bring forth the new version. It’s located in the upper-left corner of the existing Teams.
