Microsoft is working on a Windows 10 variant tailored after the needs of the Chinese government, a recent report indicates.
China found that the standard Microsoft OS versions, namely Windows 10 Mobile, Windows 10 Enterprise, Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro were not perfectly suitable for government use. That is why the Chinese government convinced Microsoft to collaborate with a Chinese corporation, and the result of the teamwork is called Windows 10 Zhuangongban.
Chinese magazine Caixin reports that the "Windows 10 Specially-provided Edition" was the result of Microsoft's cooperation with China's CETC, a state-owned tech and defense corporation. The magazine notes that the first Chinese region-specific version of Windows is working and stable.
The story is not really breaking news, however. Late last year, Microsoft told the media that it was setting up a joint venture with the Chinese tech industry to deliver the specially crafted version of Windows 10.
As expected, there are a few differences between this customized Chinese Windows 10 and the global version.
The operating system holsters few consumer-oriented apps and services, such as games, but packs a significant degree of both security and management controls.
Microsoft China's CEO, Ralph Haupter, told Caixin that the Windows 10 Zhuangongban can run all Windows-compatible software, but gave no further details on the aesthetical changes that took place.
This is not the only operating system that the Chinese government takes interest in. The authorities invested massively into developing what is now known as NeoKylin, a Linux-based OS that is partially developed by the Chinese state. The software has been used on a larger scale in the last years.
Most notably, the Tianhe-2 supercomputer runs on NeoKylin.
When compared with the Linux-based OS, Windows 10 Zhuangongban has the advantage of a much broader range of software compatibility. Looking at the big number of tools (such as Office 365) that Microsoft offers, it is easy to see why the Windows 10 could be easily adopted in state-owned enterprises.
At the same time, insiders from the tech and intelligence world criticize Microsoft's close ties with the Chinese government. The accusers point to the fact that a nation-focused variant of Windows can be crafted with the authorities' interest in mind, purposely ignoring user-privacy concerns.
