14 DAY TRIAL // Despite the huge level of software piracy in the country, China continues to be one of Microsoft’s key targets, with the company trying to bring genuine software not only on consumers’ PCs but also on those owned by governments and state agencies.
Today, Microsoft has announced the forming of a new joint venture with China Electronics Technology Group that will bring Windows 10 on government PCs across the world and “serve government agencies, as well as state owned enterprises in key infrastructure fields such as energy, telecommunications, and transportation.”
The new JV is called C&M Information Technologies, and according to Microsoft, it will be the exclusive licensor for government and state-owned enterprises. It will be in charge of Windows 10 deployment, with Microsoft stressing that it will collaborate with the government to create a customized version of the operating system that will be then approved to be used on state computers.
At the same time, C&M will provide all the services that the government needs for Windows 10 computers, including product activation, patch management, support, and deployment.
Government feedback to improve Windows 10
And last but not least, it will collect feedback from the government and state agencies to further improve the customized version of Windows 10 in order to comply with local requirements.
“It’s common for governments to look to specialty technology partner organizations to deploy technology at scale, and this venture signals the possibility for new opportunities for Windows 10 in the many government entities in China,” the company explains.
Work on the custom image of Windows 10 started in September, but Microsoft says that it’s still waiting for approval from the government. After that, it will become available for government purchase, the software giant adds, and the joint venture can provide all the aforementioned services to make sure that the operating system is correctly deployed and all the included features work as they are supposed to.