Today, Microsoft rolled out the Windows 11 23H2 update for all Windows 11 users. Besides all the new features added in September with its Moment 4 update, it included a couple of new features. One of them is removing the Chat option and replacing it with Microsoft Teams free.
In a new blog post, Microsoft goes over the addition of Teams free in Windows 11 23H2 along with some other new features that were added in October for the service.
The post stated of the free option in the Windows 11 update:
We’ve added a new view, a mini-compact size, which makes it easy to place the mini window anywhere on desktop, allowing you to passively keep tabs on your conversations in Teams as you browse the web or multi-task and be productive. We’ve also introduced a new People experience, so you can discover people that are already on Teams and instantly connect with them. If you ever need to expand and do more with Communities or manage multiple conversations, you can now simply maximize into a full windowed Teams experience.
Microsoft Teams free also added a new SMS in Teams feature in October that will allow users to link their Android phone to the service so they can send and receive text messages from Teams free on their PC.
Microsoft has also added a new widget for the Windows 11 Game Bar called Teams Play Together. You will be able to share live gameplay videos with your friends via Teams free, and vice versa.
Microsoft is also bringing its Channels revamp for Teams to the free version as well. The blog post states:
If you’re a Community owner, you can use Channels to organize your Community so your members are always connected to the content and conversation threads they need—with Channels, you can organize multiple conversation topics inside the same Community.
Microsoft Teams free Community users can now change their nickname into something other than their Microsoft Account name on iOS and Android, and that feature will be added to the web and desktop versions soon. The October update also includes new badges for Community owners and a way to share events in Communities with a link or a QR code.
