Microsoft is redesigning Teams to make it more responsive and user-friendly. According to a blog post published on Monday, Teams users can expect a new app that is up to two times quicker than the current iteration, with actions like starting the programme and joining video conversations requiring half the time. The redesigned app now has better scrolling and does not utilise placeholder content. At the same time, Microsoft claims that the new Teams utilises 50% less RAM.
Additionally, the interface has been updated to decrease the number of clicks required to handle alerts, search for information, and arrange channels. It has also improved its login, synchronisation, and notification mechanisms to make switching between accounts and tenants simpler.
Clearly, the new Teams will enable AI capabilities, beginning with the intelligent recap and Copilot features introduced earlier this year by Microsoft, with more to follow. “We will employ AI to take the effort out of working together by bringing you up to speed on what occurred before you entered a meeting or chat and answering your queries all in the flow of the conversation,” according to the business. “We’re just now starting to understand the possibilities of AI inside Teams, and we’ll have much more to offer in the future.”
The 3D avatars that Microsoft has been testing for over a year are not addressed in the blog article. The firm just said that it expects them to be publicly accessible in May, so expect them to be a part of the new Teams experience as well.
The new Teams public preview is now available on Windows, with wide release expected later this year. A Mac preview is also expected by the end of 2023. Before you can test out the new experience, your IT staff will need to enrol you in the preview if your workplace utilises Teams. Importantly, the revamped app will have a top toggle that allows you to switch between the two versions of Teams.
