Microsoft is not willing to cede the laundry room to Google.

I wrote last week about how Google’s Android may be the leading candidate to be the operating system that will drive Internet-connected devices of all sorts, including, according to Sehat Sutardja, the chief executive of the Marvell Technology Group, washing machines.

On Tuesday Microsoft introduced the latest version of its operating system for gadgets called Windows Embedded CE.

Microsoft says that there are already one billion devices made each year that are neither computers nor cellphones that have embedded processors. These include industrial robots, medical test equipment and digital signs, many of which already use versions of Windows CE. Now Microsoft is hoping to extend the operating system to the rapidly growing set of consumer gadgets including media players, navigation systems, digital picture frames and digital televisions.

All these devices, which previously were stand-alone, are increasingly networked and connected to the Internet, said Kevin Dallas, general manager of Microsoft’s Windows Embedded business. “We see a unique opportunity for Windows.”

Unlike Android and other dialects of Linux, Windows Embedded comes with a license fee charged by Microsoft for every device shipped with the operating system, typically $3 to $15, depending on the volume.

Microsoft argues that this fee is well worth it because it costs manufacturers, known as O.E.M.’s, less to design software for Windows Embedded than for other operating systems.

“If you look across the complete life cycle, it is a lot cheaper for O.E.M.’s to use the Windows platform,” he said.

The improvements to Windows Embedded announced Tuesday are meant to make it easier for device makers to design more attractive user interfaces. In particular, they allow designers to use existing Microsoft tools, such as its Expressions Web design software and Visual Studio programming environment, to make the menus, buttons and other features of a device.

While Android is being promoted for cellphones and netbook computers, Windows Embedded is not. There is Windows Mobile OS for phones. And the company wants netbooks to run the Windows 7 PC operating system, albeit with a cheaper limited version. The full version of Windows is meant only for processors using the X86 architecture. Windows Embedded can also run on other chips, including the ARM processor design used in many cellphones.

Microsoft also said that it was working on a future version that would make it easier to link devices to Internet-based services, like social networks. It already has a special version meant for GPS navigation systems, with links to Microsoft’s Web search service.

In a twist on what has been the typical business pattern, Mr. Dallas said that Microsoft’s fee-based business model allows it to be more open than Google. As much as Microsoft would like to promote its own Internet services, Windows Embedded is designed to link to Web services from any company, he said.

“We will be open in working with third parties,” Mr. Dallas said. “Google is going to O.E.M.’s and offering Android, but it is always tied to their services.”