Teams arrives on the Microsoft Store
The Microsoft Store hosts, among other things, official apps and suites made or managed by Microsoft, but until now, these did not include Microsoft Teams, the unified communication and collaboration platform of the Colossus of Redmond.Una rather strange decision, one might think, a bit like the proverbial shoemaker who always walks around with broken shoes, if we want to venture a daring parallel. The fact remains that, to date, among the plethora of programs, apps and games available on the official Microsoft store, there is not one of the programs on which the company has focused a lot in promoting Windows 11.
The Microsoft Store
apparently, based on the official Microsoft 365 roadmap, Microsoft Teams will be available on the store starting next month, for both Windows 11 and Windows 10. It also seems that the Win10 version of Teams will be usable with personal, work and school accounts, while on Windows 11 only for work and student accounts, going alongside the version incorporated in the new Microsoft operating system, designed only for personal use, perhaps to chat with friends and family.
Among the other innovations expected on the store, we remember the possibility of downloading the Android apps, already usable in preview, while in general Windows 11 should see some features that are highly requested by users return. All that remains is to wait for the official release of Teams on the store and the arrival of the other updates promised by Microsoft.
Microsoft Confirms Teams App Will be on Microsoft Store by May
Microsoft has announced via its online roadmap that the Microsoft Teams app will be available for download from the Microsoft store next month.
This will make life easier for existing Microsoft Teams users, who won't even have to open their browser anymore to get the software, which is currently only available through the tech giant's website.
Oddly enough, this isn't actually the first time Microsoft has added the app to the store – it first added it over four years ago.
‘Appy Days for Microsoft UsersMicrosoft recently announced the plans to relaunch the Microsoft Teams app on the Microsoft Store on the Microsoft 365 roadmap. If you own and use Microsoft products like teams, the roadmap is the place where you'll find all the updates currently being rolled out, as well as ones like this that are in progress.
“This app will support work, school, and consumer accounts on Windows 10 and Work or school accounts on Windows 11” – Microsoft 365 roadmap.
As Microsoft explains, the “Microsoft Teams app for work, school and life will soon be available to download from the Microsoft store. This app will support work, school, and consumer accounts on Windows 10 and Work or school accounts on Windows 11.”
Why the Difference Between the two Teams Apps?The simple explanation for why Microsoft seems to be rolling this out differently for Windows 10 and 11 users respectively is that Windows 11 is a more modern, better-featured OS – so it has tools like a Teams chat app for consumers already worked into it.
This means Windows 11 users who use Teams for work and in their personal life will have two teams icons – but hopefully, that won't get too confusing.
The goal seems to be to get more Windows 10 users to use Teams as consumers, whilst simultaneously making it more accessible to groups using Windows 11.
Is Microsoft Teams the Best Work App Out There?Microsoft Teams is certainly one of the best, all-encompassing business communication platforms out there. Slack can be more user-friendly and has a wealth of integrations with programs made by other companies, whereas Teams is a little bit cheaper and integrates seamlessly with Office365 programs.
Google Workspace is probably one of the only other directly comparable competitors, thanks to its excellent video conferencing tool Google Meet and a large range of useful business apps that it's likely you'll already have used anyway, such as Google Docs and Gmail.
But with Microsoft Teams now coming to the Microsoft Store, that'll be one less step you have to take to get yourself wired into your business's mainframe.