Microsoft Teams Gets a Redesign, Now Claimed to Use 50 Percent Less Memory; Mac App Coming Soon

Microsoft has launched a redesigned Teams application that is claimed to be more responsive and user-friendly. On Monday, the company announced that Teams users can expect a revamped app that is up to two times faster than its current version, with functions such as launching the programme and connecting to video calls taking half the time. The redesigned Teams app also claims to have smoother scrolling and does not use placeholder assets. In the meantime, Microsoft claims that the new Teams uses 50 percent less memory.

In a blog post, Microsoft claims that the redesign takes into account all user feedback and the new Teams application focuses on “speed, performance, flexibility, and intelligence,” boosted by AI-powered experiences such as Copilot announced earlier this month. The company claims that teams will now deliver two times faster performance, using 50 percent less memory.

Joining meetings is expected to be twice as fast, and switching between chats and channels is said to be 1.7 times faster, claims Microsoft. Furthermore, the company redesigned the user experience as a whole.

Microsoft also claims to have optimised the Teams data, network, chat, and video architecture. A substantial amount of this improvement is also due to the app's switch from Electron to Microsoft's Edge WebView 2 rendering engine. Microsoft mentions that it switched from AngularJS to React as the framework for web development for Teams and standardised on Microsoft's Fluent UI UX control system.

The canvas colour has been modified from grey to white, and the trademark purple Teams colour has been toned down. Microsoft has made emojis more cohesive across Microsoft 365. New Teams backgrounds, group profile picture additions, and group theming will be available later this year.

Newly unveiled Microsoft Loop is used in the new Teams app. Users can now work on a Loop element directly within Teams chats without having to quit the app. The new Teams also claims to serve as the foundation for next-generation AI experiences, such as smart recap and Copilot for Microsoft Teams, according to the company.

Moreover, the company has also improved its authentication model, synchronisation, and notification systems in order to offer a streamlined and stable experience for users with organisations that involve multiple tenants and accounts. Instead of logging in and out of different tenants and accounts, users can now stay signed in to all of them and receive notifications irrespective of which one they are using at a given time.

During its January earnings report, Microsoft stated that Teams had 280 million monthly active users. The company intends to make this latest edition of Teams available to all users subsequently this year, but it will be immediately accessible to Windows users who sign up for the company's Public Preview programme, though an administrator may need to enable this for the users' organisation first.

Users are also able to easily switch between the newer and older versions of Teams if needed. Microsoft emphasises that users will constantly be able to return to the previous Teams experience, at least for now. The company also confirmed that later this year, Mac support will be added.