New top story on Hacker News: MS Teams Linux client is being retired. To be replaced by a progressive web app

MS Teams Linux client is being retired. To be replaced by a progressive web app
55 by NGRhodes | 25 comments on Hacker News.
(Updated) Important upcoming changes to Microsoft Teams desktop client on Linux Updated August 30, 2022: We are updating this message to indicate we will be retiring the Microsoft Teams desktop client on Linux in 90 days (early December). Please take action as appropriate for your organization. We hear from you that you want the full richness of Microsoft Teams features on Linux such as background effects, reactions, gallery view, etc. We found the best way to act on this is to offer a Teams progressive web app (PWA) on Linux as a new feature of our current web client, which we’ll make available to our Linux customers in the coming months. PWA enables us to ship the latest Teams features faster to our Linux customers and helps us bridge the gaps that existed between the Teams desktop client on Linux and Windows. The PWA experience will be available on both Edge and Chrome browsers on Linux. We will be retiring the Microsoft Teams desktop client on Linux in 90 days (early December), which is currently available in public preview. All users on the Microsoft Teams Linux desktop client will have to transition to the web or PWA version, which is where we will continue to invest our development resources. We are committed to helping all current customers on Linux start using the PWA app; we’ll publish guidance once we are closer to releasing this feature. Teams PWA is an evolution of our Linux web experience - it offers the “best of the web with key functionalities of client”: zero-install, lightweight, and has a rich set of features. For example, the PWA version supports features such as: Background blur and custom backgrounds Reactions and raise hand in meetings Large gallery and together mode PWA also provides desktop-like app features such as: System notifications for chat and channel Dock icon with respective controls Application auto-start Easy access to system app permissions When will this happen? We plan to make Microsoft Teams PWA on Linux generally available in the coming months. How will this affect me? If your users/administrators use the Microsoft Teams Linux desktop client, they either need to set up the Microsoft Teams PWA (when it is generally available) or use the Teams Linux web app to ensure business continuity. What do you need to do to prepare? To prepare, we recommend informing all your users about the upcoming changes, encouraging them to switch over to the PWA (when it is generally available) to get the latest features on Linux along with a desktop-like experience. Microsoft will publish a blog post about this change and how to install Teams as a PWA on Edge and Chrome once we are closer to making this feature generally available on Linux in the coming months.