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Chinese government bans Windows 8 due to Microsoft’s retirement of Windows XP


Reefa

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Microsoft has taken heat every time it tried to end support for Windows XP, but finally almost 13 years after it was released, Microsoft has flipped the switch and stopped delivering system updates to XP users. Well, mostly. There have been some angry rumblings, but consumers seem to be coping, and large customers like business and governments can buy extended support licenses. So everything is fine? Not from the perspective of the Chinese government, which apparently has trust issues after the end of XP support. New rules announced last week ban the use of Windows 8 on government PCs.

Microsoft has a complicated history with Windows in China. PC sales are roughly the same as the US, but more than a third are still running XP. There are no official numbers on government IT platforms, but it’s safe to say XP’s share is even higher there. What is remarkable about the Chinese software market is the sheer number of pirated Windows installs. In spite of all those PC sales, Microsoft only sees about 5% of the revenue in China that it does in the US.

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It’s no secret that piracy is rampant in the Chinese consumer electronics market, and that’s probably one of the main reasons XP is still so widely used. Newer versions of Windows introduced tougher anti-piracy measures that require more fiddling to bypass, and are easier to trip in the future. The Chinese government has suggested in the past that Microsoft should lower the price of Windows instead of combating piracy.

The block on Windows 8 was enacted as part of a notice on energy-saving procedures posted on the Central Government Procurement Center website. It was certainly an odd way to announce the ban of a major operating system. The official Xinhua news agency elaborated on the ban, saying it was being put in place to ensure future security after Microsoft ended support for Windows XP… after 13 years. Apparently the Chinese government doesn’t want to be in a similar situation after buying another “foreign OS.” That raises the question, of course, what OS is China going to use on government computers?

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China’s Kylin OS. It was originally based on FreeBSD, but now it’s derived from Ubuntu

The Chinese propaganda machine might simply be trying to spin the end of XP support as some failing of the foreign software market in an effort to jumpstart a local alternative. There are a few Chinese Linux distros like StartOS and Kylin, but usage of these operating systems is still low. It’s more likely the Chinese government is working on its own version of desktop Linux to go along with the new Linux-based mobile OS known as China Operating System (COS).

Microsoft is no doubt unhappy to hear about the ban on Windows 8 in the Chinese government, as if that platform needed any more bad press. With most Windows machines in China running pirated versions of the OS, it’s not like Microsoft is about to see profits fall off a cliff. Still, having the Chinese government actively discourage the use of Windows could make it hard for Microsoft to gain a foothold with the growing Chinese middle class who might have the means to pay for software.

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  • MidnightDistortions

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The irony's just too thick to believe here. Lower your price to free or we quit! Whatever! Make your own dog food and enjoy supporting it. Your billions of technically savvy people are sure to understand Linux.

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Win7/8 more difficult to activate then WinXP? Activating both OS's is extremely simple and was never a factor in uptake of Win7/8. Who on earth wrote this shit?

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MidnightDistortions

:lol: :rofl: :lmao:

Oh man, them Chinese. Guess MS pissed off the wrong Country. :tehe:

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M$ should never sell any of their software to China.

I watched click I think it was and they were talking about piracy and M$ had found that 1,010,000 users were using the same install key on one item of their software.

I, as the paying non pirating consumer is paying extra because of this.

M$ should tell China to shove it.

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Chinese government bans Windows 8 due to Microsoft’s retirement of Windows XP

:rofl: :lmao:

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Microsoft has flipped the switch and stopped delivering system updates to XP users.

Apparently, Microsoft did the job they have been looooooong saying.

Chinese government, which apparently has trust issues after the end of XP support. New rules announced last week ban the use of Windows 8 on government PCs.

Wondering, will this make the Microsoft making another flip on Windows XP. Curious to know, what happens next.

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Microsoft has flipped the switch and stopped delivering system updates to XP users.

Apparently, Microsoft did the job they have been looooooong saying.

Chinese government, which apparently has trust issues after the end of XP support. New rules announced last week ban the use of Windows 8 on government PCs.

Wondering, will this make the Microsoft making another flip on Windows XP. Curious to know, what happens next.

Like Windows XP second edition?

Which is Windows 7.

Edited by LeeSmithG
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From the practical point of view, wonder how the Chinese government plans to prevent their average consumer from downloading his/her copy of Windows 8 from the net - quite amusing really. :think:

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MidnightDistortions

From the practical point of view, wonder how the Chinese government plans to prevent their average consumer from downloading his/her copy of Windows 8 from the net - quite amusing really. :think:

I think it's just within the Chinese government that they don't want Windows on any of their systems, though if that was the case, i wonder why they didn't just ban Windows in general. It's funny that they singled out W8. :lmao:

Edited by MidnightDistortions
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  • 3 weeks later...
FlyingTiger

Actually, the post #1 does NOT the Truth!

The Chinese government bans Windows 8 due to it a full "Cloud-based" operating system, it is different from Previous "Local operating system" (such as Windows 7 or Windows XP) and the Microsoft does not provide partial source code to the Chinese government to evaluate the safety as before. So it made the Chinese government feels uneasy and worried they will lose control.

Especially after the Snowden event, the Chinese government become more and more sensitive...

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it will be good if microsoft again releases windows xp

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M$ should never sell any of their software to China.

I watched click I think it was and they were talking about piracy and M$ had found that 1,010,000 users were using the same install key on one item of their software.

I, as the paying non pirating consumer is paying extra because of this.

M$ should tell China to shove it.

You, as the paying Non-Pirate consumer are paying extra because Microsoft are cash grabbing corporate slime balls.

Why do you think people pirate Windows anyway? 90% of the time it's because we refuse to give Microsoft the money on principle that no operating system should ever cost more than one of the main hardware components.

The current prices for Australians at the moment:

Windows 7 Ult/Pro/Home - $429/$399/$199

Windows 8.1/Pro - $150/$259

Do you really think that people are willing to spend that much money on an Operating System?

Hell I'd be on Linux for the rest of my life if it wasn't for game incompatibilities.

Quick everyone lets go spend $429 on a piece of software!

Shit it must be true then if it's posted by ZDnet! Give me a break.

Edited by stevles
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I love being able to delete posts... Will a mod please delete this double post kthx?

Edited by stevles
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