(REUTERS): Microsoft Corp will unveil today (Thursday) the first major revamp of its Windows operating system (OS) since 2015.
Refreshing the 35-year-old operating system can result in additional revenue growth for the world’s second-most valuable public company, behind only Apple. The new Windows will likely be widely adopted as millions of consumers and office workers make the upgrade from Windows 10, the top PC operating system.
The upgraded operating system may also appeal to individuals, who have helped drive sales of PCs sharply higher over the past year due to work-from-home practices adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Analysts expect the successor to Windows 10 to be called Windows 11 and to contain updates for business users that could make it easier to use with dual-monitor setups. It may also hold updates for PC gamers, including an Xbox app. Microsoft may also give more details at Thursday’s online launch event on its plans for a revamped Windows Store.
The company recently cut commissions on games sold through the store to 12 percent, lower than the 15% it takes on regular apps, and has been a vocal critic of Apple Inc’s App Store, which charges 30pc commissions.
The software that turned Microsoft into a household name and dominated personal computers for years has been overtaken in popularity by devices using Apple and Google software, but it is still core to Microsoft’s strength in the corporate market.
Windows remains one of the biggest platforms in the technology world, with Microsoft’s personal computing segment, which includes Windows revenue from businesses and consumers, accounting for $48.2 billion of its $143 billion in revenue in its most recent fiscal year.
Windows 10, the most recent version, has 1.3 billion users, nearly as many as Apple’s total installed device base of 1.65 billion users but less than half of Alphabet’s 3 billion Android users.
