A number of users expressed their discontent after learning that Microsoft is making changes to Teams to open hyperlinks in Edge instead of the default browser. However, a compact chat list in Teams is something that might assuage some of that discontent among users.
Microsoft is working towards adding a new "chat density setting" in Teams for web and Desktop to allow users to have a compact chat list. The new chat setting will condense the chat list, as a result of which more chats will be visible on the screen. How will it condense the chat list, you ask? Well, as per the Microsoft 365 Roadmap page, it will hide the message previews in order to make room for more chats to be visible on the screen.
If you are using Skype, you might already be familiar with the "compact chat list." In Skype, you need to switch on the Enable compact list mode toggle to disable message preview and have more chats on the screen. Teams users will also get a similar option in the app setting.
Microsoft is targeting June for launching the compact chat list option for Teams users on the web and desktop platforms. But it might get delayed if something goes wrong. We have seen multiple instances when Microsoft failed to deliver on intended targets, so the release timeline is not carved in stone.