

- #Microsoft office chat program software#
- #Microsoft office chat program free#
- #Microsoft office chat program windows#
But a preview of Teams is available now - again, though, only to enterprise customers. Microsoft is targeting the official launch of Teams by the end of March 2017. Teams will be officially available Q1 2017 - but you can try it now ZenDesk (customer service software) and Asana (a popular project management tool) have already said they'll be working to integrate their services with Teams. Assuming the web client is robust and works on Chromebooks, that should cover all but a few outliers.
#Microsoft office chat program windows#
Microsoft has, or will have, apps for Windows 10, Mac, Android, iOS, Windows Phone and even browser-based web clients. (Customers can then convert to a paid Slack subscription, which offers more features and options.) So if you're a family or other small group, don't expect to use or try Microsoft Teams. That's a big departure from Slack, which is essentially a freemium web-based tool that's available to any ad hoc group who chooses to sign up for it.

#Microsoft office chat program software#
The new software is strictly aimed at the enterprise/business market. but it's not available to non-business Office subscribersĭid you purchase a "one and done" Microsoft Office software download? Are you an individual or family subscriber to Office 365? Sorry, no Teams for you. Like any Office component, it'll be up to your company's IT department whether or not to deploy it to users in the organization. Of course, that doesn't mean it'll just pop up on your desktop the day it launches.

Teams isn't exactly free, but if your organization is already an Office 365 subscriber it won't cost anything additional.
#Microsoft office chat program free#
It's a free add-on for Office 365 enterprise subscribers (Slack has said it's been testing threaded conversations since at least April, but the feature has yet to appear.) By contrast, Teams will support threaded conversations on day one. In other words, any discussion within a channel is completely jumbled with another. "Showcase artists" thread within the "Art and Media Festival" channelĪ common complaint among Slack users is the app's dearth of email-style threaded conversations. Teams also incorporates plenty of other familiar Slack features, including in-line animated GIFs and assistant bots, including one ("WhoBot") that's designed to find individuals in your organization based on their specialties or assignments. Instead, it's utilizing a lot of its existing strengths in Office (online applications), Azure (cloud-based file management), Skype (online communication), Exchange servers (data management) and security, all of which are pulled together in a new group chat application.
