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 during the pandemic as people stayed home and spent more time with Windows 10 for school, 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.
During the event, Microsoft:
- Announced Windows 11, which will be a free update and is due out by the holidays
- Showed new Xbox features coming to Windows 11
- Revealed big changes to its Microsoft Teams app in Windows 11
- Unveiled support for Android apps through the Amazon Appstore in Windows 11
- Took a shot at Apple and said its new Microsoft Store has lower fees