14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft’s trouble in China continues with another chapter, this time coming from a local IT expert with strong ties to the government, who recommended the local authorities to remove Windows as soon as possible from their computers.
In a report published by state-controlled newspaper Jinghua.cn, Ni Guangnan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, is quoted as saying that replacing Windows with a locally developed operating system must be done “urgently,” but no other specifics as to the reasons behind this recommendation were provided.
Most likely, China wants to step away from Microsoft software because of security concerns, as some local officials have already accused the Redmond-based giant of bundling keyloggers in its operating system to help the United States government spy on Chinese PCs.
At the same time, it appears that the Chinese government is also planning to force all state-owned businesses to dump Microsoft products, including not only software, but also hardware.
Microsoft still under investigation
Microsoft’s problems in China started this year in May, when local authorities decided to ban Windows 8 on government computers for no clear reasons.
At that point, some people close to the matter indicated that Windows 8 was considered a potential threat to state security, as Microsoft could use it to access national secrets that are stored on government computers.
Redmond itself declared that this decision was surprising to say the least, but admitted that it was working with the Chinese government on addressing all claims.
Instead of Windows 8, Microsoft was offering Windows 7 to the Chinese government, explaining that it had all the features of its successor, minus a touch-optimized UI and performance improvements.
China, however, wasn’t impressed with Microsoft’s offering and decided to start an anti-trust investigation against the company, raiding several local offices and seizing PCs and documents which could be used during the probe.
Redmond willing to collaborate
During this whole time, Microsoft had nothing else to say than “we’re cooperating,” explaining that it was already working with local investigators to address the claims.
CEO Satya Nadella himself travelled to China in September, but no other details were provided on how exactly the two sides could settle the investigation.
In the meantime, Microsoft remains under investigation, and in addition to Windows 8, all the other Windows versions currently being used on Chinese computers could soon be removed in order to be replaced with a domestic operating system.
We’ve contacted Microsoft for an official comment on this new report and will update the article as soon as we get an answer.