Microsoft mystified by Chinese governments Windows 8 snub

[anuseems]

Firm said it always listens to needs of public sector users

From V3:

China said it would not allow state machines to run Windows 8 in order to avoid support issues in the future, similar to Windows XP, which has left millions of machines unsupported around the world.

Instead, China is to focus on developing homegrown Linux systems that can be updated on an ongoing basis.

In response Microsoft told V3 that it was "surprised to learn about the reference to Windows 8" in the notice issued by the government, as it has always worked with governments to try to meet their needs.

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2345916/microsoft-mystified-by-chinese-governments-windows-8-snub

Edited May 22, 2014 by anuseems

[MidnightDistortions]

lol MS is mystified because China wants an OS that encompasses their needs? Yeah i guess that would be shocking considering China wants to utilize their resources better and wanting to give up planned obsolescence.

[mara-]

The needs are not the problem here. I'm with MS here. Nobody can expect that they support one version of Windows forever.

Cheers ;)

[Lacius]

I don't blame the Chinese. The releases and support of Windows operating systems after Windows 7 have become inconsistent and fraught with uncertainty. For example, users of Windows 8 are required to move to another operating system (Windows 8.1) if they want to continue receiving support after January 12, 2016, and Windows 8.1 includes new system requirements that strand some users (particularly those who might have upgraded from Windows XP to Windows 8 on older machines) on Windows 8 without support.

Leaks and speculation aside, we don't know if the same thing will happen with a hypothetical Windows 8.2. I can tell you that while most home users might not care or notice, businesses, governments, schools, etc. do not want to deal with the hassle of having to change operating systems every couple of years in order to continue receiving support.

[dcs18]

The Chinese had more than a decade to upgrade - their gesture of indignation is deplorable.

What were they doing for the past 13 years - no hardware lasts that long (moreover, it is not as if they got to pay for their OS.)

Every Punk who wants a chunk of XP needs to quit complaining. :stfu:

[CODYQX4]

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Edited April 28, 2019 by CODYQX4

[ghost]

First off: I wanted to say thanks guys for keeping this topic intelligent and civil, unlike the other thread.

Secondly: I think the wage disparity may play a factor in all this. Let me explain, despite China being the second largest economy. Many people there just don't make enough money to upgrade systems every few years. It is no different than let say Bangladesh as an example: Where garment and clothing manufacturers pay so little to the workers that they cannot afford to buy the clothes they make.

Unlike, in the west where wages are higher and people can freely afford to upgrade their systems every few years.

Third: There are copies of win 8 available for pirates to download and still people will not upgrade. why? because it's a piece of ****.

[dcs18]

The Chinese had more than a decade to upgrade - their gesture of indignation is deplorable.

What were they doing for the past 13 years - no hardware lasts that long (moreover, it is not as if they got to pay for their OS.)

Every Punk who wants a chunk of XP needs to quit complaining. :stfu:

Most of the world's IE6 and 7 users are Chinese users on pirated XP, so there have to be a lot of dinosaurs there.

Not to mention our own Dinosaurs right here at nSane who lack the basic competence to deal with Windows 8.

[CODYQX4]

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Edited April 28, 2019 by CODYQX4

[ghost]

First off: I wanted to say thanks guys for keeping this topic intelligent and civil, unlike the other thread.

Secondly: I think the wage disparity may play a factor in all this. Let me explain, despite China being the second largest economy. Many people there just don't make enough money to upgrade systems every few years. It is no different than let say Bangladesh as an example: Where garment and clothing manufacturers pay so little to the workers that they cannot afford to buy the clothes they make.

Unlike, in the west where wages are higher and people can freely afford to upgrade their systems every few years.

Third: There are copies of win 8 available for pirates to download and still people will not upgrade. why? because it's a piece of ****.

Price to China is irrelevant. They pirate everything. People sell pirated Windows discs and even the government and business machines are highly pirated.

In the US the government just doles out cash to any big company like it isn't anything, but China just pirates it all.

I wonder how many licenses are actually legit? I think they got better but everything used to be said to be cracked a bit ago.

That is a fair point to a degree, but name one country (Government or private citizen) that does not use pirate copies of any software. Even the US government has been caught using pirated material, according to some articles posted here, awhile back.

What is the issue, really? Them not wanting to use Windows anymore or them wanting to develop their own OS? The way I see it. It's a win-win. If they build their own OS then no more pirating MS products.

[CODYQX4]

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Edited April 28, 2019 by CODYQX4

[ghost]

First off: I wanted to say thanks guys for keeping this topic intelligent and civil, unlike the other thread.

Secondly: I think the wage disparity may play a factor in all this. Let me explain, despite China being the second largest economy. Many people there just don't make enough money to upgrade systems every few years. It is no different than let say Bangladesh as an example: Where garment and clothing manufacturers pay so little to the workers that they cannot afford to buy the clothes they make.

Unlike, in the west where wages are higher and people can freely afford to upgrade their systems every few years.

Third: There are copies of win 8 available for pirates to download and still people will not upgrade. why? because it's a piece of ****.

Price to China is irrelevant. They pirate everything. People sell pirated Windows discs and even the government and business machines are highly pirated.

In the US the government just doles out cash to any big company like it isn't anything, but China just pirates it all.

I wonder how many licenses are actually legit? I think they got better but everything used to be said to be cracked a bit ago.

That is a fair point to a degree, but name one country (Government or private citizen) that does not use pirate copies of any software. Even the US government has been caught using pirated material, according to some articles posted here, awhile back.

What is the issue, really? Them not wanting to use Windows anymore or them wanting to develop their own OS? The way I see it. It's a win-win. If they build their own OS then no more pirating MS products.

True but despite the occurrences you hear about most of many govt PCs are licensed. Other countries may be overwhelmingly pirated.

It isn't the pirating I'm concerned about but the fact a government is crying "Wah, you dropped the OS we didn't buy after a million years of support when it should have been slaughtered years ago! Wah, Wah, no more purchases from us! We're gonna make our own crappy OS, force it on everyone in the country, and when we can't afford to support it vs buy/pirate Windows we'll whine about something else!".

They can build their own OS all day long but that sounds like having to spend more time/money to support. MS already built their own system and it is their job to support it. If you build your own OS you have to do your own job AND support your crapware. Also you won't find the number of people able to support it if it gets deployed far enough (1 billion people in China and their govt would force the citizens to use their OS if they could). Windows people already outnumber Linux people dozens of times over, more so when you totally bastardize the source of one of the millions of distributions you copy (because they are going to bake censorship code into it for sure if they want to make it a citizen OS then have to fight hackers trying to bypass it).

I know I'd rather the USG buy Windows than build their own thing. Given nobody knows how to waste and burn cash like Uncle Sam, the costs of supporting that and cleaning up hacks would be absurd. Look at how many problems the Healthcare site had, ignoring any issues but technical on it. Now imagine the team behind that building an OS. Would Chinese government employees not do a crap job as well?

Once again very good points. I suspect they are developing their own OS because of the Snowden thing and not using microsoft anymore is an excuse to gain support for their home grown OS. But that is all speculation on my part or possibly just talking out of my ***. :lol:

:cheers:

[MidnightDistortions]

Well as for the China OS, if they can do it and protect themselves more power to them. We'll know soon enough if China's homebrew OS doesn't work or is prone to security problems.

[NickH]

How about this for a thought?

One big Chinese OS user base. This is then becomes a prime target for hacking and viruses, compared to the current very fragmented Linux user base?

[amuk]

I suspect that China just doesn't want an OS, on their PCs, that is engineered to have a very securely made back door for MS to use if they see fit. Just speculation of course.

[Olexijl]

Well, i am with China here. It isn't the support i am worried about: Windows 8 is simply rumored as something with too much backdoors to NSA, so in comparison with Windows 7 i would choose Windows 7. And if they want to be safe from NSA by creating Linux based OS - let them be.

[NickH]

Me thinks. Which would you be more concerned about - a back door to the NSA or an O/S written/sponsored by the Chinese government and doubtless with more than one back door? It is bad enough with their bots constantly hammering at my router. I don't think I'd want them LAN side of it.

[Catoja]

Ps. Most of you guys forgot to say that using a pirated version of windows, is normal way ... Cherrs...