Microsoft has announced the release of a faster version of its Teams communication app for Windows. The update is being rolled out to commercial clients enrolled in a preview program, with the application becoming available to all customers later this year. Additionally, new versions of Teams for Mac and the web are also promised.
Since its launch in 2017, Teams has become a flagship product for Microsoft 365, the subscription-based productivity software bundle formerly known as Office 365. The Covid pandemic spurred widespread adoption of Teams for video calls and text chats, with over 280 million people using it every month, according to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
While Teams experienced performance issues in 2020, Microsoft has since resolved them. The company began building a second generation of the software in 2021, with a focus on improving performance, according to Jeff Teper, president of collaborative apps and platforms at Microsoft. The new version is twice as fast as before while using half the memory, and also includes enhancements to simplify Teams. These changes build on the more than 400 feature updates Microsoft released last year to catch up with rivals such as Cisco, Google, Salesforce-owned Slack, and Zoom.
Microsoft is making changes to Teams in order to simplify the user experience. The new version of Teams will hide several options behind a plus sign, a concept that people have become accustomed to on other messaging applications, according to Jeff Teper, president of collaborative apps and platforms at Microsoft. For example, in Slack, users can upload documents or set reminders after clicking on a plus sign under the area where they type messages.
In addition, during Teams video calls, every participant will be displayed on screen in a box of the same size, rather than giving more space to participants with their cameras on. Previously, Teams calls had varied squares and rectangles of different sizes and colours, resembling Piet Mondrian paintings.
Microsoft is also making it easier for people who belong to multiple organizations to stay on top of what’s going on by allowing them to stay signed in across all of their accounts and receive notifications no matter which one they are currently using.
However, for those who prefer the old version of Teams, a switch at the top of the application window will enable them to go back to what Microsoft is calling the classic version, according to Teper.
Paul Balo is the founder of TechBooky and a highly skilled wireless communications professional with a strong background in cloud computing, offering extensive experience in designing, implementing, and managing wireless communication systems.
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