According to a report floating on Reddit and Twitter, Microsoft Teams is set to receive a substantial performance boost. The upcoming revamped version of Teams, known as Microsoft Teams 2.0 or 2.1, has been in the works for years and has been undergoing internal testing by Microsoft. A preview of this version is expected to roll out in March.
The new Teams is built from the ground up, with a complete overhaul that reportedly uses 50% less memory than the current version of Teams. The revamped version also utilizes CPU power more efficiently and consumes less power, resulting in a much better performance.
Backend Changes
One significant change is that Microsoft is switching Teams from Electron to its own Webview2 technology. Additionally, Teams 2.0/2.1 uses React instead of JavaScript, which should further improve its performance and UI.
With this change, we are taking a major step in #MicrosoftTeams Teams architecture. We are moving away from Electron to Edge Webview2. Teams will continue to remain a hybrid app but now it will be powered by #MicrosoftEdge. Also Angular is gone. We are now 100% on reactjs
— Rish Tandon (@TandonRish) June 24, 2021
When the preview version of the new Teams is released in March, users will reportedly have the option to switch back to the old version if desired. As businesses form a significant portion of Teams users, Microsoft needs to ensure a smooth transition to the new Teams.
Apart from the switch to Teams 2.0/2.1, Microsoft is also developing Teams Premium. The company plans to incorporate AI features such as generating meeting notes, recommended tasks, and personalized highlights into the app.