As we speak, we’re excited to announce basic availability of the brand new Microsoft Groups app for Home windows and Mac together with schooling prospects. We’re additionally starting to roll out new Groups to public preview for our Digital Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and authorities cloud prospects (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 aim was to reimagine Groups from the bottom as much as ship a sooner, less complicated, smarter, and extra versatile app that will help you keep productive and collaborate extra successfully. The preview model of latest Groups was as much as two instances sooner whereas utilizing 50% much less reminiscence.
We have now made notable progress for the reason that launch of latest Groups in public preview. New Groups now has full function 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 have now targeted on offering high-quality efficiency and enhancing the fundamentals in areas resembling reliability, safety, and IT administration to ensure that new Groups meets the evolving necessities of your group.
With the transfer to basic availability, new options and enhancements will probably be out there 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 probably be robotically upgraded to new Groups within the coming months. To get began in your new Groups journey as we speak, merely flip the toggle within the upper-left nook of the traditional Groups app. With only one click on, you’ll be able to be a part of hundreds of thousands of customers who’re counting on new Groups to remain linked with colleagues, companions, and prospects and obtain extra collectively. This report from GigaOm, an impartial analyst agency, will clarify why you must 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 cut back reminiscence utilization and disk house as assets are shared with Edge. Our efforts to replace the core know-how have been an excellent 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 traditional Groups.
We’re additionally seeing important efficiency enhancements on Mac, together with the flexibility to modify between chats and channels sooner, and entry related data shortly 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 on account of extra environment friendly use of gadget assets and an optimized Groups expertise even when utilizing a number of high-resolution displays throughout calls or conferences. Among the new safety enhancements on Mac are improved app safety by a containerized app mannequin, simplified app updates by way of Microsoft AutoUpdate, and net safety enhancements resembling Content material Safety Coverage, Trusted Sorts and extra. Discuss with our public preview announcement weblog to be taught 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 assets in your VDI surroundings. We have now noticed enhancements in latency for key situations resembling app launch, change chat, and be a part of conferences when testing the general public preview construct that’s rolling out this month in contrast with traditional Groups.
A less complicated person expertise that makes it simpler to do extra in fewer clicks
New Groups gives a simplified and streamlined person expertise, that makes it simpler so that you can personalize experiences, keep on high of your notifications, and get extra finished 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 robotically choose gentle or darkish mode and change primarily based in your system settings, serving to Groups higher mix into your workspace. New Groups has improved help for customers with shade sensitivity, utilizing Home windows 11 distinction themes so customers can choose a shade palette that works greatest for his or her wants. You possibly can effectively preserve monitor 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 screen readers to verify everybody can use Groups extra inclusively. You should use keyboard shortcuts extra successfully on new Groups by seamlessly navigating between listing objects resembling exercise feed and chat threads, permitting you to get extra finished with even fewer key presses. We have made some usability enhancements for our customers who use display screen readers. These enhancements make it less complicated to keep away from repeated data, interpret the widespread duties extra simply, and organize channel conversations extra successfully, whether or not they’re unique 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 by mergers and acquisitions, or the necessity to help international subsidiaries and check 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 assets 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 suitable customers with improved folks search outcomes throughout a number of tenants.
Options resembling 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 presently in use. You possibly can seamlessly interact with customers throughout a number of accounts and organizations with out having to drop out of a name or assembly, guaranteeing no disruption to your workflow.
The cross-cloud authenticated assembly function in new Groups permits you to 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 members when the assembly begins. You could be assured that different members cannot entry every other data from the host tenant.
A better Groups app to degree up your productiveness
New Groups is the inspiration for next-generation AI experiences, resembling Microsoft Copilot. Copilot in Groups works alongside you that will help you keep on high of your duties by enabling you to rise up to hurry on conversations, run simpler conferences, and produce the whole lot collectively in a single place. Copilot in Groups chat helps you rise up to hurry on conversations by shortly reviewing the details, motion objects, and choices with out having to scroll by lengthy threads. You possibly can unlock your assembly productiveness through the use of 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 ability of Microsoft Graph, Copilot can discover and use information that is buried in paperwork, displays, emails, calendar invitations, notes, and contacts and produce the whole lot collectively in your Groups app.
Get began in your new Groups journey as we speak
New Groups permits us to ship new capabilities to market sooner. Transferring ahead, new options and capabilities in addition to enhancements to current options will probably be out there completely in new Groups.
It solely takes one click on to improve to the brand new Groups. You possibly can simply choose up and resume precisely the place you left off in traditional Groups and your chat messages, Groups and channels, and apps will seem in new Groups.
For our enterprise prospects, beginning with Present Channel, this announcement marks the start of displaying the brand new Groups toggle to finish customers throughout the traditional Groups app. We’ll quickly start making new Groups the default app for all Groups customers primarily based on our schedule, which is detailed on this web page.
In case you have questions on this announcement or need extra data on tips on how to make the change to new Groups, learn the weblog publish from our workforce and go to the new Groups microsite.
Be a part of us for our AMA (Ask Microsoft Something) in regards to the new Microsoft Groups on Thursday, October 26, 2023 at 9amPT.