New Microsoft Teams Client: 3 Awesome Features

In June 2021, Microsoft announced that a new Microsoft Teams client was to be launched - and even embedded into Windows 11.

During the Windows 11 launch event, Microsoft introduced everything that will be received as new features in its latest operating system.

You can rewatch the full Windows 11 launch event livestream below:

But you probably clicked here for the new Microsoft Teams updates so let's dive into these.

1 - New Microsoft Teams client to be embedded into Windows 11

Possibly the most exciting announcement for Microsoft Teams users was that Teams will be embedded into Windows 11.

Here's a preview of what the desktop app (or should we say just desktop Teams) will look like:

Windows users will be presented with a Microsoft Teams icon within their taskbar - removing the need to add it to your already cluttered desktop. (Bonus points if you don't have a cluttered desktop).

Microsoft's Chief Product Officer, Panos Panay, explains the benefits of embedding Teams into Windows 11:

"Now you can instantly connect through text, chat, voice, or video with all of your personal contacts, anywhere, no matter the platform or device they’re on, across Windows, Android, or iOS. If the person you’re connecting to on the other end hasn’t downloaded the Teams app, you can still connect with them via two-way SMS."

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At the launch event, Microsoft demonstrated the consumer version of the new Microsoft Teams client within Windows 11. It was confirmed that the business version of Teams will follow suit. It is expected the new Microsoft Teams client for business will look the same.

While most of the reaction to this update is positive, a few Teams users questioned whether they will be able to disable Teams on Windows 11.

Kris Siegel, a Senior Engineer at PlayStation, bought up the topic of not wanting Teams on a personal machine. An important note for maintaining work life balance.

It was also announced that both Slack and Zoom will be embedded as apps in Windows 11. A real show that Microsoft is thinking about the user experience rather than promoting its own collaboration tool within Windows.

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2 - Microsoft Teams 2.0 will use half the memory

In order to continuously improve the Microsoft Teams end user experience, Microsoft is swapping out Electron to Edge Webview 2. This means Teams will now take up half the memory.

By moving away from Electron, Microsoft removes the need for the use of memory-heavy technologies like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. In their place will be Edge Webview2.

Edge Webview2 allows you to embed technologies like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS so there's no need for them to take up precious room on your machine.

Tom Arbuthnot, Microsoft MVP, said summarized what this means for Teams users in layperson's terms in his own blog:

"Teams is moving to a more performant and more Microsoft-controlled technology stack, meaning a better and more performance client experience. 

3 - Microsoft Teams to go 100% on reactjis

Microsoft also announced it's now "100% on reactjis."

When questioned why Microsoft was moving from Angular (a platform for building mobile and desktop web applications) to reactjis full-time, Rish Tandon responded:

"Microsoft Office as a whole took a bet on reactjs a while back. Teams was a small island of its own with Angular. We have been running Angular and reactjs side by side in our current app for a while now. Time to fully cut over. There are a lot of advantages:

1. Allows us to share components across the Office ecosystem
2. Simplifies product development as engineers only have to use one framework
3. Allows us to focus all our energies on building the best reactjs app on the planet."

What's coming next in Microsoft Teams?

Tandon also hinted at support for managing multiple Teams accounts. Probably the most anticipated feature request on both User Voice and the Microsoft Tech Community Forum, switching accounts in Teams has been a troublesome feature for users with access to more than one tenant.

To stay up to date with the latest features Microsoft is working on, the public roadmap for Microsoft Teams always includes features and improvements Microsoft feels it can make public.