But can your app be integrated into Windows with equal footing as Teams?

I don't even know what that means.

How is the Teams we are talking about here integrated into Windows?

Teams is integrated into M365 and taking Outlook as an example you can register another calling/status app just like others do so your online status and calling functionality is not Teams (used to be Skype).

It's now installed by default and in your task bar on Windows 11.

It's not even just an icon either, its similar to OneDrive where removing it is non-trivial.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Intune/comments/10whv8c/hows_everyo...

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows11/comments/q4elim/can_we_ta...

When will Slack get this same level of access? They won't ever.

What do you mean by "access"?

> What do you mean by "access"?

Strictly speaking, the ability for a third-party application to leverage Teams' features without bundling with the OS like Teams.