What you need to know
- Microsoft recently shipped the new Teams app to Windows and Mac.
- The new version is two times faster and consumes 50% less disk space when compared to the classic app.
- The new Teams app ships with Copilot in Teams, an AI-powered designed to enhance user experience by summarizing meetings.
- Classic Teams users will automatically transition to the new Teams in the next few months.
Microsoft unveiled a new Teams app (Microsoft Teams 2.0) in preview for Windows users earlier this year. Today, the company announced it's finally rolling out the new Teams client to general availability for Windows and Mac.
While launching the new version of the app, Microsoft shared that the new client is two times faster and consumes 50% less memory compared to the classic version, thanks to it being based on Edge WebView2 rather than Electron. The company also promised a seamless and smooth transition between chats and channels (up to 1.7 times faster).
What's more, the new Teams app takes 70 percent less disk space. The company has gradually improved the platform in the past few months, incorporating features in the classic version of the new Teams client.
According to Microsoft's product lead, Anupam Pattnaik:
"New Teams now has full feature parity for almost all features, including custom line-of-business apps, third-party apps, breakout rooms, 7x7 video, call queues, PSTN calling, contextual search in chats and channels, cross-post a channel conversation, and more. We have focused on providing high-quality performance and enhancing the basics in areas such as reliability, security, and IT management to make sure that new Teams meets the evolving requirements of your organization."
Users will need to transition to the new Teams client to gain access to new features going forward, as the company will be shipping them exclusively to the new version of Teams. This includes Copilot in Teams, an AI-powered assistant to help users summarize meetings and more.
Microsoft also indicated that it has spotted "significant performance improvements on Mac" when quickly switching between chats and channels to retrieving important and relevant information at a glance. "Teams works natively on Mac, giving Mac users an improved app experience," the company added.
The classic Teams will automatically transition to the new client in the next few months. Users with Business and Teams Essentials licenses who would like to transition to the new Teams app immediately can click on the "Try the new Teams" toggle in the top-left corner of the classic Teams app. You can also check out Microsoft's release schedule to find out when the new experience will be available for you.
