The Chinese Ministry of State Security has reportedly ordered local governments and state-affiliated organizations to remove Windows 10 installations from their systems as the central government seeks to completely diversify away from Western technology. However, the irony is that this is not the standard Windows 10 OS we are all familiar with. The software was developed by C&M Information Technologies (CMIT), a joint venture between Microsoft and China Electronics Technology Group, and was specifically modified to meet Beijing's security requirements. Based on Windows 10 Enterprise, this government version removes or disables several consumer-facing features, keeps activation and updates within China, and supports the use of Chinese cryptographic standards.

According to Bloomberg, the central government has reportedly moved up the planned obsolescence date, and instead of lasting until February 2027, the retirement is happening now. Despite receiving a highly customized version of Windows 10, Beijing now seems increasingly uncomfortable with maintaining a foreign-origin operating system at the core of sensitive government infrastructure. However, China does have a replacement plan for the Windows operating system.

Firstly, there is Huawei's HarmonyOS and the entire PC ecosystem being built around it, in addition to Kylin and UnionTech's UOS Linux-based operating system. Both are designed to replace Windows, with Huawei's version running a completely custom kernel, while UOS is Linux-based. We are still waiting to see that the government decides to use, but will likely be a mix of both, depending on the type of workload.