Microsoft in pact to put Windows 10 on Chinese government PCs

Microsoft yesterday entered into a joint venture pact with China Electronics Technology Group (CETC), to get Windows 10 on government PCs in the People's Republic of China.

The joint venture announcement extends Microsoft's alliance with CETC, one of China's largest defence and technology conglomerates, and creates C&M Information Technologies Republic.

The move would require Chinese regulatory approval for licensing Windows 10 to government agencies as also a number of state-owned corporations, including those that control energy, telecommunications and transportation.

C&M would also provide back-end services, including product activation, patch management and support for Windows 10.

C&M Information Technologies is the product of a collaboration that Microsoft and CETC announced in September, when Microsoft said the partnership was designed to provide "operating system technology and services for Chinese users in specialized fields in government institutions and critical infrastructure state-owned enterprises."

In September Microsoft tied up with seven companies in China in a bid to gain greater access to China's large market and share of government business. The September partnership was announced the day president Xi Jinping started a US visit with tours of Microsoft and Boeing, dining with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and meetings with other US tech CEOs at a forum hosted by Microsoft on its Redmond, Washington campus (See: Microsoft in pact with seven Chinese firms to expand footprint).

''It's common for governments to look to specialty technology partner organisations to deploy technology at scale, and this venture signals the possibility for new opportunities for Windows 10 in the many government entities in China,'' Yusuf Mehdi, a Microsoft corporate vice president, wrote in a blog post.

According to commentators, the announcement marked a positive turn in Microsoft's relationship with Beijing. The company was last year under investigation by the Chinese government for monopolistic behaviours by raiding several of its offices (Microsoft under anti-monopoly probe in China).

China, at one time banned government purchases of Microsoft's operating systems and worked to develop homegrown versions such as Neokylin, a Linux-based alternative to Windows XP. However, these systems had to be yet deployed on a large scale.

The move also comes after IBM agreed to allow Beijing to review some of its product source codes, a practice China demanded to ensure there were no security risks.

Many US technology companies had refused to do so due to fear of handing proprietary information to their Chinese competitors.