Right now, we’re excited to announce common availability of the brand new Microsoft Groups app for Home windows and Mac together with training clients. We’re additionally starting to roll out new Groups to public preview for our Digital Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and authorities cloud clients (GCC, GCC-H, DoD).
Earlier this yr, we ushered in a new period of Microsoft Groups with the general public preview of the new Groups app. Our purpose was to reimagine Groups from the bottom as much as ship a sooner, less complicated, smarter, and extra versatile app that can assist you keep productive and collaborate extra successfully. The preview model of recent Groups was as much as two instances sooner whereas utilizing 50% much less reminiscence.
We’ve made notable progress because the launch of recent Groups in public preview. New Groups now has full characteristic parity for nearly all options together with customized line-of-business apps, third-party apps, breakout rooms, 7×7 video, name queues, PSTN calling, contextual search in chats and channels, cross-post a channel dialog, and extra. We’ve centered on offering high-quality efficiency and enhancing the fundamentals in areas corresponding to reliability, safety, and IT administration to make it possible for new Groups meets the evolving necessities of your group.
With the transfer to common availability, new options and enhancements will likely be accessible completely on new Groups. New Groups consists of help for Multi-tenant organizations (MTO) and multi-tenant, multi-account (MTMA), which allow seamless cross-tenant communication and collaboration past organizational boundaries throughout a number of tenants and accounts.
Upgrading to new Groups is fast and seamless — no migration is required! Traditional Groups customers will likely be mechanically upgraded to new Groups within the coming months. To get began in your new Groups journey immediately, merely flip the toggle within the upper-left nook of the basic Groups app. With only one click on, you may be a part of thousands and thousands of customers who’re counting on new Groups to remain linked with colleagues, companions, and clients and obtain extra collectively. This report from GigaOm, an unbiased analyst agency, will clarify why you might want to prioritize upgrading to new Groups in your group.
A sooner app optimized for efficiency on a number of platforms
We constructed new Groups on the React framework to enhance the velocity and efficiency of the app on Home windows. Utilizing Edge WebView2 because the host for the brand new Groups app helped us scale back reminiscence utilization and disk house as sources are shared with Edge. Our efforts to replace the core expertise have been a great transfer in the direction of offering a extra environment friendly and reliable Groups app. GigaOm reported new Groups to be on common two instances sooner when loading the app, becoming a member of conferences, and switching chats and channels, and consuming as much as 50% much less reminiscence and disk house than basic Groups.
We’re additionally seeing important efficiency enhancements on Mac, together with the power to modify between chats and channels sooner, and entry related info rapidly and effectively with a sooner scrolling expertise. Groups works natively on Mac, giving Mac customers an improved app expertise. Mac customers will now expertise a lift in efficiency as a result of extra environment friendly use of machine sources and an optimized Groups expertise even when utilizing a number of high-resolution displays throughout calls or conferences. A number of the new safety enhancements on Mac are improved app safety via a containerized app mannequin, simplified app updates through Microsoft AutoUpdate, and net safety enhancements corresponding to Content material Safety Coverage, Trusted Varieties and extra. Seek advice from our public preview announcement weblog to study extra in regards to the simplified IT administration and superior safety measures with new Groups.
With new Groups, we additionally present a sooner app that has been optimized for extra environment friendly use of system sources in your VDI setting. We’ve noticed enhancements in latency for key eventualities corresponding to app launch, swap chat, and be a part of conferences when testing the general public preview construct that’s rolling out this month in contrast with basic Groups.
An easier person expertise that makes it simpler to do extra in fewer clicks
New Groups presents a simplified and streamlined person expertise, that makes it simpler so that you can personalize experiences, keep on prime of your notifications, and get extra completed in fewer clicks. We’re excited to roll out enhanced personalization choices that enable Home windows and Mac customers extra management over the person interface. New Groups will mechanically decide gentle or darkish mode and swap based mostly in your system settings, serving to Groups higher mix into your workspace. New Groups has improved help for customers with colour sensitivity, utilizing Home windows 11 distinction themes so customers can choose a colour palette that works finest for his or her wants. You possibly can effectively hold observe of your messages and notification exercise, with options like “mark all as learn” in exercise, rolling out now; and “mark all as learn” in chats or channels, coming quickly to new Groups.
With new Groups, we’re additionally rolling out enhancements to optimize the expertise for many who use keyboard shortcuts or display readers to ensure everybody can use Groups extra inclusively. You should utilize keyboard shortcuts extra successfully on new Groups by seamlessly navigating between checklist objects corresponding to exercise feed and chat threads, permitting you to get extra completed with even fewer key presses. We have made some usability enhancements for our customers who use display readers. These enhancements make it less complicated to keep away from repeated info, interpret the widespread duties extra simply, and prepare channel conversations extra successfully, whether or not they’re authentic posts or responses to posts, and extra.
A extra versatile app for seamless cross-tenant communication and collaboration
Organizations usually discover themselves managing a number of tenants whether or not via mergers and acquisitions, or the necessity to help international subsidiaries and take a look at environments. The brand new multi-tenant organizations (MTO) functionality in new Groups permits a extra seamless expertise when collaborating with coworkers in an MTO group and accessing sources in different tenants of the group, no matter how the id infrastructure is managed. MTO helps ship wealthy collaboration and full-fidelity assembly expertise whereas eliminating silos and bringing customers collectively throughout tenant boundaries. MTO permits customers to attach and collaborate with the fitting customers with improved folks search outcomes throughout a number of tenants.
Options corresponding to multi-tenant and multi-account (MTMA) in new Groups allow you to collaborate extra successfully throughout organizational boundaries, keep signed into a number of accounts concurrently, and obtain real-time notifications regardless of which one is at present in use. You possibly can seamlessly have interaction with customers throughout a number of accounts and organizations with out having to drop out of a name or assembly, making certain no disruption to your workflow.
The cross-cloud authenticated assembly characteristic in new Groups means that you can seamlessly be a part of a gathering hosted in any Microsoft cloud, whether or not it’s industrial or authorities cloud, with out having to signal out of your account in your house tenant. The host verifies the identities of the individuals when the assembly begins. You will be assured that different individuals cannot entry some other info from the host tenant.
A wiser Groups app to degree up your productiveness
New Groups is the inspiration for next-generation AI experiences, corresponding to Microsoft Copilot. Copilot in Groups works alongside you that can assist you keep on prime of your duties by enabling you to rise up to hurry on conversations, run more practical conferences, and convey all the pieces collectively in a single place. Copilot in Groups chat helps you rise up to hurry on conversations by rapidly reviewing the details, motion objects, and selections with out having to scroll via lengthy threads. You possibly can unlock your assembly productiveness by utilizing Copilot in Groups conferences to summarize key dialogue factors—together with who stated what and the place persons are aligned or disagree—and counsel motion objects, all in actual time throughout a gathering. Utilizing the facility of Microsoft Graph, Copilot can discover and use data that is buried in paperwork, shows, emails, calendar invitations, notes, and contacts and convey all the pieces collectively in your Groups app.
Get began in your new Groups journey immediately
New Groups permits us to ship new capabilities to market sooner. Shifting ahead, new options and capabilities in addition to enhancements to present options will likely be accessible completely in new Groups.
It solely takes one click on to improve to the brand new Groups. You possibly can simply decide up and resume precisely the place you left off in basic Groups and your chat messages, Groups and channels, and apps will seem in new Groups.
For our enterprise clients, beginning with Present Channel, this announcement marks the start of displaying the brand new Groups toggle to finish customers throughout the basic Groups app. We are going to quickly start making new Groups the default app for all Groups customers based mostly on our schedule, which is detailed on this web page.
When you have questions on this announcement or need extra info on the way to make the swap to new Groups, learn the weblog put up from our group and go to the new Groups microsite.
Be part of us for our AMA (Ask Microsoft Something) in regards to the new Microsoft Groups on Thursday, October 26, 2023 at 9amPT.
