14 DAY TRIAL // It’s no secret that Microsoft has a hard time convincing Chinese users to switch to genuine software, but the company has made another important step towards this goal by teaming up with one of the largest local tech companies that could actually support the adoption of legitimate products.
Baidu, which is the largest search engine provider in China, signed an agreement with Microsoft to become the default search engine and home page in Microsoft Edge browser on copies of Windows 10 sold in the country.
This means that Redmond gives up on Bing for China, so whenever local Windows 10 users fire up Edge browser, not only are they provided with instant access to Baidu’s homepage, but they can also search the web with the very same service.
Baidu universal apps
At the same time, Baidu will offer what the two are calling the “Windows 10 Express” program, which is supposed to support the adoption of genuine Windows and offer support to those who want to install the new operating system.
And last but not least, Baidu will develop its own universal apps for Windows 10 for search, video, cloud, and maps services, all designed to run on PCs, tablets, and smartphones.
So what’s going to happen to Bing? Microsoft says that although it will no longer be offered as the default option in Windows 10 in China, users can still enable it if they want.
“We remain deeply committed to delivering Bing around the world and we’re also committed to offering locally relevant experiences – like Baidu in China – to provide great Windows 10 experiences,” it says.
Microsoft clearly needs such agreements in China, one of the largest software markets at the moment, but also one of the pioneers of pirated software, with millions of Windows copies used in the country currently using licenses that aren’t genuine.