Soon, China is going to wash out Windows from the country by 2022. This is a major step and a shocking decision for Microsoft as well as Chinese users of Windows. According to the sources, all the government departments and services will stop using Windows in their PCs in the next 3 years.
China is now planning to use homemade Linux Distro instead of counting on Microsoft’s Windows. The decision of the Chinese government is in line with the drive to not use any computer software developed outside the country. It could also be taken as the response of the China government against the US ban on Huawei.
To implement the plan, the Chinese government has decided to replace 30% of Windows PC by 2020, 50% in 2021, and the rest of 20% will be replaced by 2022. According to China Securities, around 30 million Windows PCs are estimated to be replaced by the end of 2022.
The directive was passed by the Chinese Communist Party Central Office and is only for government departments. This means that private use of Windows PCs will not be affected in China. So, Microsoft’s revenue from big private companies will continue. However, experts feel that the effect of the directive passed by the Chinese Communist Party Central Office will also have an influence on the private companies to lower down or completely cease the use of Windows on their PC. China is now promoting in-house Linux Distro.
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Back in 2017, Microsoft offered Chinese Government Edition of Windows 10 with the intention to retain its Chinese customer base but that didn’t work and China is planning to replace Windows with a Chinese-created Linux Operating system. At present, there are enough Linux Distros available to the Chinese government and if it’s needed, it can be developed in-house.
Although, Linux Distro used by the Chinese government is likely to be modified and restricted. There is no doubt that the decision of the Chinese government multiplies a huge number of users for the Linux open-source operating system.
Apparently, for Linux, this is the good news that China is relying on Linux but China is known for highly regulating and censoring the OS it uses. This is contrary to what the open source communities and Linux stand for.
Looking from China’s perspective, replacing millions of PCs from Windows to Linux is a time consuming, complex, and hefty process. Maybe this is the best step China can take if they are ceased from using the U.S software. Well, for Linux, it’s time to shine!
