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

Microsoft, in shot at Apple, says store takes lower fees and allows payment processing

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.

Microsoft rival Apple, in particular, faces a fair amount of developer and regulatory scrutiny over its fee. Microsoft also announced a way to install Android apps on Windows PCs through Amazon’s Appstore platform.

“Today this world needs a more open platform,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said, suggesting that big apps on Windows can become platforms of their own, another shot at Apple. — Kif Leswing