Microsoft Teams has become one of Microsoft's most important services. Since the pandemic, the platform has become the communication/collaboration tool of choice for hundreds of millions of users and companies. It now seems Microsoft is ready to give Teams a top to bottom refresh, with a new version of Microsoft Teams reportedly dropping next month.
Sources told The Verge that Microsoft is already testing the new client internally. A preview should be ready in March. As for the name, those internal tests know the service as Microsoft Teams 2.0 but on launch, it is likely to remain just “Microsoft Teams”.
As well as a general redesign, the app will just be more efficient. The source points to it using 50% memory, putting less load on the CPU, and offering less impact on battery life.
It is worth noting that Windows 11 already has some of the new Teams tools through its integration with the app. However, the standard Microsoft Teams for business users is still running the older version.
New App
Microsoft has essentially needed time to completely build a new client. This also marks a move away from Teams running on Electron to Microsoft's Edge Webview2.
Importantly, this change is not so much about adding new features but instead basically rebuilding the app. Microsoft Teams will be a new client, but the feature set will still be the same. If you are interested in feature, Microsoft rolls out dozens each month, so don't worry about it.
In fact, since 2021 the company has released over 500 features for Microsoft Teams.
Tip of the day: Whether it's for a presentation, song, or YouTube video, at some point in your life you'll need to record audio from your computer. Windows 11 has multiple options to record sound due to its litany of apps. In our tutorial, we show you how to record audio using the built-in Windows 10 Voice Recorder and the freeware audio editor Audacity.
