Slack updates its desktop app for Windows and macOS, which is still built on Electron, claims it now launches 33% faster and uses 50% less RAM than before
Slack's desktop app has been rebuilt for Windows and macOS — Slack is unveiling a new version of its desktop app for Windows …
Context & Ripple Effects
This closes a loop Slack opened in late 2018, when it told businesses a faster desktop client was coming early 2019 alongside its new collaboration-analytics tool — the rebuild arrives months past that window but delivers measurable wins: 33% faster launch and half the RAM. The notable part is what didn't change: Slack stayed on Electron rather than rewriting native, four years after its first Windows desktop app launched on the framework.
First-order effects
- Windows and macOS users of Slack get a lighter-weight app immediately — lower memory footprint and faster startup on the same Electron base, no migration required.
Second-order effects
- The performance claims hand Slack ammunition against Microsoft Teams' 'Electron is bloated' critique ahead of CEO Stewart Butterfield publicly defending the framework choice in his 2020 Q&A on competing with Microsoft.
Third-order effects
- If an optimized Electron build can cut RAM by half without leaving the framework, the pressure on cross-platform apps to go fully native weakens — Electron becomes something you tune rather than abandon.
The trend: Desktop productivity apps are converging on tuned web-technology shells instead of native rewrites, making runtime efficiency a competitive differentiator inside shared frameworks like Electron.