Microsoft scores strange own goal with latest Teams update
Microsoft Teams is getting a new compact mode
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Microsoftis preparing an update forcollaboration platformTeams that has the potential to help users make the most of their desktop space, but is limited by a strange design decision.
According to anentryin theMicrosoft 365product roadmap,Teamsusers will soon receive the option to pack a larger number of messages on screen courtesy of a new compact mode.
The view mode will reduce both the font size and space between lines, allowing for 50% more chat messages to be displayed at once.
The feature is still currently under development, but should roll out to all Microsoft Teams customers by the end of the month.
Compact mode in Microsoft Teams
Although compact mode in Microsoft Teams will probably be inappropriate for anyone that struggles with vision problems, it could prove useful in a range of scenarios.
For example, multitaskers running Teams in windowed mode will be able to reduce the amount of real estate taken up by the app without cutting the number of messages they can see. The new mode will also benefit those running Teams on aportable monitororwork laptop, who until now have had to make do with reading fewer messages at a time.
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Bafflingly, however,reportssuggest compact mode will only apply to one-on-one chats, not channels. It’s a strange decision, given the volume of messages that pass through group channels is typically much larger than in private chains.
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The update will also apply only to the Microsoft Teams desktop client, at least for now, which means those working from smallersmartphonesandtabletswill not benefit.
TechRadar Prohas asked Microsoft about the rationale behind the decision to exclude channels from compact mode, and whether iOS and Android users will receive the option in future.
Joel Khalili is the News and Features Editor at TechRadar Pro, covering cybersecurity, data privacy, cloud, AI, blockchain, internet infrastructure, 5G, data storage and computing. He’s responsible for curating our news content, as well as commissioning and producing features on the technologies that are transforming the way the world does business.
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