When it comes to protecting their privacy and their people from influence from the outside world, China is pretty strict. We’ve seen the country impose pretty strict censorship laws, and it was only recently that they allowed console manufacturers to officially sell their products in the country.
This is why it hardly comes as a surprise to learn that China has recently announced that they will be banning the use of Microsoft’s Windows 8 platform from being installed on government computers. This was reported by the Xinhua news agency, who stated that according to the government, the reason was to save energy as well as to ensure security.
Unfortunately the news agency nor the Chinese government offered additional information on how the ban of Windows 8 would contribute to better energy savings or security. This is a quite a blow to Microsoft because as it stands, it has been estimated by data firm Canalys that 50% of China’s desktop market is still running on Windows XP.
By instituting this ban, at least as far as government computers are concerned, it will make it harder for Microsoft to enter the market. According to Canalys, “China’s decision to ban Windows 8 from public procurement hampers Microsoft’s push of the OS to replace XP, which makes up 50 percent of China’s desktop market.”