According to an interview with Caixin, Microsoft's Chinese government-approved version of Windows 10 is now ready.
The special version of Windows was announced at the 2015 World Internet Conference Wuzhen in December, forged from a joint venture that was formed between Microsoft (49% stake) and China Electric Division (51% stake). Microsoft's head of China operations Ralph Haupter said that the product will be called Windows 10 Zhuangongban (Specially-provided Edition).
The origins of the deal started when Microsoft ended support for Windows XP, an OS that is still very widely used within the Chinese government. They responded by not allowing any installations of Windows 8 and even began using Linux on some government PCs.
While there's no official list available that shows exactly what's different between Windows 10 and Windows 10 Zhuangongban, there will be less Microsoft apps and services, likely using more Baidu services, something that the firm had promised would be in the Chinese version of Windows 10 back in September.
Haupter stated that "I think the future for many years, this cooperation will be the way we put products into China a global model" (translated from Chinese).
If for nothing else, getting Windows 10 into the favor of the Chinese government will help Microsoft's goal of getting Windows 10 installed on over a billion devices within two to three years.
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