Microsoft Teams Gets a Performance Boost with Framework Upgrade

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft claims that it has optimized the Microsoft Teams desktop app to reduce latency in key scenarios, such as switching between chats, channels, and activity feed. The company detailed in a blog post that these under-the-hood improvements are a result of an upgraded Teams framework introduced this month.

According to Microsoft, the performance upgrades are available for all Microsoft Teams users on Windows and macOS. “The upgraded Teams framework provides technical benefits including rendering the HTML tree faster, running JavaScript and serializing arrays more efficiently,” explained Jeff Chen, Principal PM Manager for Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft highlights that these updates have made navigation between Teams chats and channels 32 percent and 39 percent faster, respectively. In addition, performance enhancements released for the app in June further enhanced switching between chat threads by up to 20 percent and channel threads by up to 28 percent.

Microsoft is also touting that there should be a noticeable improvement in response times and joining times during Teams meetings. “We are excited to share that the framework upgrade improved the join time by 21%, and responsiveness during meetings has improved. For example, the latency of raising your hand has improved by 16%,” Chen added.

Microsoft Teams Gets a Performance Boost with Framework Upgrade

When will Microsoft Teams 2.0 arrive?

The latest performance upgrades complement Microsoft’s continuous efforts to reduce latency and load times in Teams during key resource-intensive scenarios, including messaging, meetings, and video calls. Back in February, Microsoft claimed that the app now uses up to 50 percent less power during meetings.

Last year, Microsoft announced that its Teams desktop app is moving away from Electron to Webview2. Since then, the company has been quiet about the new “Teams 2.0” client that leaked in preview in June 2021.

In response to a question, Microsoft mentioned that “we are taking performance and resource utilization very seriously and there is significant continued investment in this area.” The company didn’t share any details about the app, but it seems like it’s still a work in progress.