Microsoft rolls out one Teams app to rule them all
- Reference: 1724256915
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/08/21/microsoft_unifies_teams_apps/
- Source link:
The new addition, long anticipated and arguably how things should have worked from the start, allows users to add or select a different account with a click in the top right-hand corner. It is also possible to join meetings as a guest without signing in or selecting a preferred account when joining. A preview of the app was [1]released for Windows Insiders earlier this year.
The app is available for Windows 11, Windows 10, and Mac. Sadly, Linux fans will have to stick with the web version for now.
[2]
Teams has traditionally been the tool enterprises impose on users as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription – at least until Microsoft was [3]forced to uncouple the collaboration software from its productivity suite. However, it hasn't gained the same traction with consumers.
[4]Is Teams connector retirement a tweak to fit EU laws, or a sign of price rises to come?
[5]Users rage as Microsoft announces retirement of Office 365 connectors within Teams
[6]EU accuses Microsoft of antitrust violations for bundling Teams with O365
[7]Microsoft expects further concessions for Teams amid EC antitrust probe
The situation has been further complicated by the confusing requirement for users to install multiple Teams apps – one for work and one for personal use – at a time when consumers already have a plethora of chat and collaboration apps at their disposal. As well as Teams and [8]Microsoft's own Skype , there are alternatives including WhatsApp, Messenger, and so on.
Microsoft is eager for consumers to embrace Teams, and Amit Fulay, Vice President of Product at the company, [9]wrote : "All users, including those on Windows 10 and Mac, can now connect and collaborate with anyone, anytime – for free – when signing in with a personal email."
[10]
A unified app will certainly simplify things, but users may still have their preferred ways of doing things outside the enterprise. ®
Get our [11]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/14/unified_teams_debuts/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZsZjgSqe2isTVX76iqnjMgAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/02/milcrosoft_teams_license_changes_global/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/15/teams_connector_requirement/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/09/users_rage_as_microsoft_announces/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/25/ec_microsoft_teams_bundling/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/05/microsoft_expects_further_concessions_for/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/31/skype_adfree/
[9] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams-blog/unified-teams-app-for-work-personal-and-education-accounts-is/ba-p/4217988
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZsZjgSqe2isTVX76iqnjMgAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Banana Skin?
Indeed. The most obvious that comes to mind is posting pet pics (or worse) into a chat with your family/friends/wife/etc, only to realize that the Teams window is signed in to your work account and you've just shared something nauseatingly twee with colleagues.
Even old Teams for Business was terrible for that; the number of times I've been messaging someone, then a toast notification appears to tell me someone else has IM'd me, I click the popup, type a reply to the new person... and then remember, for the umpteenth time, that Teams doesn't (or didn't) switch away from the existing chat when doing that, to the utter confusion of the original person with whom I was conversing.
Ah well. If only Management had adopted my proposal to standardise on ICQ or Yahoo! Messenger.... :P
Re: Banana Skin?
Much easier to profile people with access to both work and home activities... and MS owns LinkedIn too.
Re: Banana Skin?
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the REAL reason Microsoft makes this 'generously' happen.
I also wonder what this will do when DLP comes to play.
As for "Sadly, Linux fans will have to stick with the web version for now." , nobody sane would run any Microsoft products on Linux, heck, I already use the sandboxed web versions to prevent this rubbish from infecting my Mac, and that turned out to be [1]a very good decision as Microsoft seems determined to use their applications to make MacOS as unsafe as Windows..
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/cisco_talos_microsoft_macos/
I'm so sure that ms teams will keep the data between my personal life and work life separate I'm willing to risk my career!
Separating work / home
As long as I can separate work from home, show as being online for work, not for for home or reverse depending on the time of day. Not that it matters as I have separate laptops for home and work.
Re: Separating work / home
Very sensible, if stuff needs to be shared between home and work that is what email is for. I go further and have separate mobile phones for home and work.
Bugger the home and work faffing around (I'd never dare use my work PC for home use, and only once have I taken in my own laptop as emergency work cover) - when will M$ finally optimise the damn thing so it doesn't swallow so much RAM?
Or does it need that RAM to store all the telemetry before upload?
Oh hush.
If you don't know by now that Microsoft products always take 10% more resources than actually available you've not been paying attention over the last, well, decades.
M$ Unveils, blah, blah, All users, including those on Windows 10 and Mac can blah, blah...
but Linux users can go fsck themselves.
"Unified" eh?
"one Teams app" eh?
Nah.
Re: M$ Unveils, blah, blah, All users, including those on Windows 10 and Mac can blah, blah...
Au contraire, Linux users should be thankful that there isn't a way to foist that crap on them.
Leave it nicely in a browser with no ability to background or grab data and metrics it's not supposed to grab.
Frankly, when my new machine arrives I'll set up a VM, just for Microsoft applications. There's no way I let their code loose on my machine without some serious fencing off.
Blah blah blah....
And I bet they STILL haven't fixed that stupid security hole where when you click on "Sign out" it DOES NOT!
There are frequent instances when all you have to do is click on a user name/email address and it signs you in without asking for so much as a password AFTER you've signed out.
I’d rather keep work and personal life completely separate, and personally I’d prefer if Teams Personal was called something completely different, like maybe Skype.
The limits of collaboration platforms
The limits of collaboration platforms are that you have to be there to collaborate. Couldn't we plug ChatGPT into it and go and touch grass.
Jesus christ
Its taken them long enough. Having to explain to a user "use the work or school option" it was beyond ridiculous. For anyone that would listen I'd always moan "I despised Steve Jobs but the only thing he got right when moving back to Apple was getting rid of all the stupid names and variations on the Mac. This is what Microsoft should of done with Teams from the start".
Having said that, Teams is still kinda shit.
Banana Skin?
Without looking too closely it would seem to me there are multiple ways this could go wrong!