Microsoft just unveiled Windows 11: Here's everything it announced
Microsoft revealed Windows 11 during an online event on Thursday. The announcement comes almost six years after the introduction of Windows 10, which is the world's most widely used PC operating system, with over 1.3 billion devices using it.
Windows, which represents over 10% of Microsoft's revenue even as the company has grown by selling cloud services, became more critical in the pandemic as people stayed home and spent more time with Windows 10 for class, work and gaming. Microsoft reported higher Windows revenue from consumer PCs -- but Apple's Mac revenue also rose, and shipments of PCs running Google's Chrome OS skyrocketed.
Microsoft executive Panos Panay drew a contrast on Thursday with other app stores during the Windows 11 launch. On the Windows Store, he said, developers can use Microsoft's payment processor ("commerce engine"), which takes a 12% fee from purchases. Or, he said, developers can use their own payment processor and keep 100% of purchases.
This is clearly a shot at Apple and to a lesser extent Google, which run the Apple App Store and Google Play Store for mobile software, which take a 15% to 30% fee from purchase. Game stores on Windows, like Steam, also take similar fees.
