What you need to know
- Microsoft has announced that it will cut support for its classic Teams client on July 1, 2024, and recommends transitioning to the new Teams app.
- Users running the classic Teams client on unsupported operating systems won't access it after October 23, 2024.
- The Teams classic client will be blocked on supported operating systems on July 1, 2025.
It's official now! Microsoft will end support for its classic Teams client on July 1, 2024, in favor of its new Teams app, which boasts better performance speeds and consumes 50% less memory.
Microsoft was initially slated to automatically upgrade Teams classic users to the new Teams app after March 31, 2024. However, it extended the client's lifeline, giving users ample time to transition to the new Teams app. With the classic client set to hit its end-of-support in the next two months, Teams classic users are encouraged to transition soon.
After July 1, Microsoft won't ship any updates, security patches, or new features to the classic Teams client. This decision doesn't mean that users who fail to make the transition won't be able to use or access the platform. You'll still have access to the platform, but it'll now feature a notification indicating the classic client is no longer supported.
Microsoft has indicated that users running the classic Teams client on unsupported operating systems, including Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and MacOS Sierra 10.12, will receive notifications from August indicating that the app won't work after October 23, 2024. However, according to a spot by Neowin, users will still be able to access the web version.
Teams classic client is expected to continue running on supported Windows and MacOS operating systems until July 1, 2025.
A bright but different future for Teams ahead?
Microsoft surpassed 320 million active monthly users on Teams in September 2023, and the platform continues to grow and evolve. However, its future remains uncertain, especially after the EU antitrust watchdog forced Microsoft to unbundle Teams from its Office 365 services over anti-competitive practices. This decision was despite the company separating its services in the European Economic Area and Switzerland last year.
While commenting on Microsoft unbundling Teams from Office 365, Steve Weber, professor of the Graduate School at the University of California, Berkeley School of Information:
"Until the regulators have their foot on their neck, they're going to hold on to that business strategy for as long as they possibly can. Kicking the can down the road, then they can keep doing this again and again and again. And that's why I feel people like me are trying to stand up and say we need to find better ways to stop this sooner rather; than like trying to close the barn door three days after the horses run away."
Microsoft will now provide Teams as a standalone service for new customers for $5.25, whereas the Office package without Teams will range between $7.75 and $54.75. Strangely, while the reorganization of Microsoft's Office 365 service happened, a new report emerged indicating the company was moving some of its staffers from the Teams Chat app to help with Copilot AI projects.
