China's homegrown desktop OS could hit market in October

[Himanshu Arora]

In an effort to break foreign software monopoly, China is developing its own operating system, and is hoping to launch it by October. The OS will initially be made available for desktops, with support for smartphone and other mobile devices coming later.

"We hope to launch a Chinese-made desktop operating system by October supporting app stores", said Ni Guangnan, who heads an official OS development alliance established in March by the People's Republic of China (PRC).

China has increasingly sought to limit the use of US technology in the wake of Snowden's leaks. The Chinese authorities recently banned government use of Windows 8, and also launched anti-monopoly investigations against Microsoft.

Guangnan said that there is a huge gap between China's technology and that of developed nations, however he hoped that the new OS would be able to replace foreign desktop operating systems within one to two years and their mobile counterparts within three to five.

This isn't the first time China is coming up with a homegrown operating system. Back in 2000, it launched Red Flag Linux with great fanfair, yet the OS failed to gain a major foothold ultimately halting operations earlier this year.

In January, the Chinese government launched COS (China Operating System), a  Linux-based open source mobile OS. It was developed jointly with China's Institute of Software at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISCAS) and Shanghai Liantong.

China also helps fund Ubuntu Kylin, a version of Ubuntu designed for Chinese users. According to Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, over three million people downloaded the OS in the first 12 months.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/57830-chinas-homegrown-desktop-os-could-hit-market-in-october.html

 

[Spykezxp]

Question is: Are they doing this to break free from an Operating System that may be "spying" on them (or) do they themselves think its a great idea and want to have an Operating System they can spy on their own people with?

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Well it sure didn't take them long. It usually takes MS about 4 years to develop then release a fully functional, tested OS, it sounds like it took them around 4 weeks... They must know a shortcut.

 

[Ranger12]

Well it sure didn't take them long. It usually takes MS about 4 years to develop then release a fully functional, tested OS, it sounds like it took them around 4 weeks... They must know a shortcut.

The Chinese government is not known for honesty in press releases, neither are they known for quality products. An operating system developed by a controlling government? Sounds honest to me! I bet they just want to make peoples lives easier...yeah.

 

[Camikazi]

Question is: Are they doing this to break free from an Operating System that may be "spying" on them (or) do they themselves think its a great idea and want to have an Operating System they can spy on their own people with?

Yes and yes.

 

[Guest]

My own opinion: I would not trust it as far as I could code it... and I am NOT a coder. A government sponsored OS, brought to you by a government that controls information and internet access..... it screams of "built-in spyware" to me.

 

[Littleczr]

At least we always have a linux option.

 

[fimbles]

My own opinion: I would not trust it as far as I could code it... and I am NOT a coder. A government sponsored OS, brought to you by a government that controls information and internet access..... it screams of "built-in spyware" to me.

Giant corporations on the other hand are completely trustworthy, And have no say at all on government policy.

 

[Guest]

Of course if I was part of the Chinese government, I would want to use Chinese software. Same as the American government using American software. Outside of government however, neither should be trusted by consumers.

 

[Guest]

If history repeats itself, this OS that China is developing will also be based off of Linux, which is
more or less still an US operating system. Linus has been living in the US since 1996. I seriously doubt that China would be building on the original code that Linus developed when he was still living in Helsinki

 

[Gaara]

China has increasingly sought to limit the use of US technology in the wake of Snowden's leaks. The Chinese authorities recently banned government use of Windows 8, and also launched anti-monopoly investigations against Microsoft.... I agree 100%!!!

 

[psycros]

China has increasingly sought to limit the use of US technology in the wake of Snowden's leaks. The Chinese authorities recently banned government use of Windows 8, and also launched anti-monopoly investigations against Microsoft.... I agree 100%!!!

Yes, poor China..they've never spied on anyone. /facepalm

 

[captaincranky]

They probably just decompiled Windows XP.