Microsoft fights back, calls out China on its Windows 8 claims

Microsoft and China have had a stressful relationship recently as the two seem unable to see eye-to-eye over the Windows operating system. With China recently saying that Windows 8 should not be used there due to Microsoft’s connection with the US government, Microsoft is now fighting back and is using social media to combat these claims.

It all started with China wanting Microsoft to extend the support of Windows XP as that platform is used heavily in the country. But, the reason it is used so much is largely because of widespread piracy, and Microsoft has said that 9 out of 10 copies being used in that country have been acquired illegally. With Microsoft not backing down on dropping support for XP, China started tossing mud at Windows 8.

The country banned the use of the platform on government computers and made claims about backdoors and other allegations of collusion with the US government. While Microsoft knows that if any of this were true, it would do irreparable harm to its image and as of now, it has not been firmly established that the company has given the NSA or any other entity access through a ‘backdoor’ into its platforms.

Microsoft has taken to its Weibo account to combat China’s claims and posted the image that you see at the top of this post. The five points are translated and broken down below and you can see the full image here:

1. Microsoft has never assisted any government in an attack of another government or clients.
2. Microsoft has never provided any government the authority to directly visit our products or services.
3. Microsoft has never provided any so-called "Backdoor" into its products or services.
4. Microsoft has never provided the data or info of our clients to the U.S. Govt. or National Security Agency.
5. Microsoft has never concealed any requests from any government for information about its clients.

These claims attack all of the key points China has made about Windows 8 and Microsoft’s alleged cooperation with the US government.

Microsoft clearly wants China to move to another platform besides Windows XP because so many of the PCs in China run illegal copies of the OS. If Microsoft is able to get these users to buy legitimate copies of new versions of Windows, it will significantly help the company’s bottom line.

But for now, Windows XP usage in China still remains high but seeing that the OS is no longer receiving support, it’s only a matter of time until these machines become vulnerable and are exploited by botnets or infected with ransomware. Once this occurs, these users will have no choice but to update their OS to a more modern platform.

Source: Neowin Forums and Weibo | Thanks for the tip Faikee!