Mysterious new version of Windows 10 created for Chinese government

The company hasn't yet revealed how it’s modified the operating system

Aatif Sulleyman
Wednesday 22 March 2017 14:31 GMT
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Microsoft is currently finalising the Windows 10 Creators Update, which looks set to arrive next month
Microsoft is currently finalising the Windows 10 Creators Update, which looks set to arrive next month

Microsoft has built a special customised version of Windows 10 for the Chinese government.

The operating system is available to consumers in China, but the country’s government hasn’t been overly keen on Windows.

It placed a ban on Windows 8 for government use in the aftermath of Edward Snowden’s NSA spying revelations, and partnered with Canonical in 2013 in an ultimately doomed effort to create a Windows alternative called Kylin.

Microsoft has so far refused to reveal how it’s modified Windows 10, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The company developed the Chinese government-friendly version of the software in partnership with the state-owned China Electronics Technology Group.

“We have already developed the first version of the Windows 10 government secure system,” Alain Crozier, the CEO of Microsoft Greater China, told China Daily.

“It has been tested by three large enterprise customers.”

The company is currently finalising the Windows 10 Creators Update, which looks set to arrive next month.

It will introduce a raft of new features, including Paint 3D, Beam game streaming, new accessibility features, including braille support, as well as a multitude of performance and security tweaks and enhancements.

However, a change in wording in a new preview build suggests that the Creators Update could expose users to huge internet data charges.

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