Microsoft
develops Windows 10 version for China’s government
A China-specific version of the operating
system will include greater control for administrators, support for custom data
encryption preferences, and have updates and system data administered by a
Chinese entity.
By
Matt Day
Seattle
Times technology reporter
May
23, 2017
Microsoft has built a version of Windows 10
tailored for China’s government and state-owned corporations, baking into the
operating system greater control for administrators and a pledge to not send
any system usage data outside of the country.
Terry Myerson, executive vice president of
Microsoft’s Windows and Devices unit, announced the new version of the
operating system at an event in Shanghai. The first customers of Windows 10
China Government Edition include China’s customs service and the city of
Shanghai.
Operating in China has been difficult for
Microsoft and other Western companies, with services like Facebook banned
entirely. Analysts attribute that to strict government control of the internet
and technology companies, as well as a regulatory regime that often mandates
partnerships with local companies to operate in the domestic market.
The new Windows version was developed by
CMIT, a joint venture between Microsoft and state-owned China Electronics
Technology Group. CMIT will handle all system updates for the operating system,
and none of the data on the operating system’s performance will leave China,
Bloomberg reported.
“We
are aware this could be perceived as a sensitive issue but it’s quite
appropriate for a sovereign country, within its own computer system and its own
employees to have its own encryption systems,” Myerson told the news service.
Microsoft’s offices in China were raided by government
investigators in 2014 as part of an antitrust probe, and state agencies were
discouraged from buying Microsoft products.
Microsoft has tried publicly to repair
relations with Beijing, and in 2015 hosted Chinese president Xi Jinping on the
company’s Redmond campus.
Xi and other Chinese officials have responded
to U.S. and European criticism of the state’s crackdowns on free speech on
the internet largely by saying governments are entitled to their own legal and
regulatory regimes.
Patrick Moorhead, an independent technology
analyst, said the Chinese government would likely prefer to rely on an
operating system built by a domestic firm under its oversight, but that’s
unrealistic in a world of personal computers largely built to run Windows.
“China does need Windows, and China needs to
save face,” Moorhead said. “I think that the verbiage — a special version
(of Windows) — benefits the Chinese government in telling their message.”
Myerson told attendees at the event in
Shanghai on Tuesday that the release of the new operating system followed a
two-year government review of Windows 10.
“We agree with the outcome of the review,”
Myerson added, without specifying what the review had determined.
“The Chinese government has the highest
standards for security and trust,” he said.
A Microsoft spokeswoman didn’t provide
details Tuesday on the specific differences between the new Chinese
variant of the operating system and the business-focused version it was derived
from.
Microsoft will provide a customized version of Windows 10 to the Chinese
government, the company announced on Thursday, as it continues to strengthen
its relationship with Chinese regulators.
The
partnership is a major turnaround for Microsoft’s ambitions in China. In 2014,
regulators conducted an anti-monopoly investigation into the company over
Windows’ dominance in the market, and even banned government purchases of
computers running the operating system.
The
custom Chinese version of Windows 10 will be “government-approved,” and will
include Chinese-selected antivirus software. It will be distributed to Chinese
government agencies and certain state-owned companies by C&M Information
Technologies, a new Beijing-based venture created specifically for the
partnership.
From
Microsoft’s blog post:
We’re announcing a new joint venture that
will license, deploy, manage and optimize Windows 10 for China’s government
agencies and certain state owned enterprises and provide ongoing support and
services for these customers.
The
joint venture is not final, however. Microsoft says it is still subject to
regulatory approval. The Chinese body participating in the joint venture is the
China Electronics Technology Group. In September, Microsoft worked with CETG to
make China’s top search engine, Baidu, the default homepage and search engine
in its Edge browser in the region.
For
Microsoft, the partnership not only secures the company a huge customer likely
to spend hundreds of millions of dollars going forward, but also gives the
company firm ground in a vast market where many of Microsoft’s most important
vendors—such as Lenovo and Xiaomi—are based.
Microsoft says that “hundreds of millions” of PCs in China run Windows.
However, one concern is that many of those copies are pirated. It’s very
possible that Microsoft will look to work with Chinese regulators to try to
crack down on software piracy.
In
September, Microsoft (MSFT, +1.13%)CEO Satya Nadella met with Chinese president
Xi Jinpingto discuss concerns about intellectual property rights as well as how
American tech firms can crack the huge market. Microsoft’s cloud server
service, Azure, set up shop in China last year, partnering with Chinese company
21Vianet.
The
Chinese government can also chalk up its partnership with Microsoft as a win.
Recently, Chinese officials have been publicly concerned about big U.S. tech
firms including secret backdoors in its software in light of Edward Snowden’s
revelations about the National Security Agency’s spying programs.
China
removed several U.S. tech firms from government-approved purchase lists earlier
this year, and even started to develop its own alternative to Windows, called
NeoKylin. The deal with Microsoft presumably will allow China to inspect its
version of Windows 10 to ensure there are no hidden surprises that might
compromise state security.
Recently,
it was revealed that China supports state-owned companies seeking to develop a
homegrown secure smartphone operating system.
More
from Microsoft event
Microsoft
unveils Surface tablet updates, signals new hardware push in China