China to Launch OS, Challenge Microsoft and Google

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
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In what is likely to become a major challenge to Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows and Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android, China will release its own operating system.

According to the Xinhua news agency:

After concerns about U.S. surveillance and a monopoly probe of Microsoft, there is some good news for China’s homegrown operating system (OS): a desktop version may be ready in October.

Ni Guangnan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering told the People’s Post and Telecommunications News that the OS will be first seen on desktop devices and later expanded to smartphones and other mobile devices.

Ni heads an OS development alliance established in March. There are still problems in the program, including a lack of research funds and too many developers pulling in different directions.

“China has more than a dozen mobile OS developers with no independent intellectual property rights because their research is based on Android,” said Ni, adding future development should be led by the government.

According to the report, Ni said the end of Windows XP and the government ban on the procurement of Windows 8 have opened the door to domestic OS developers.

“Our key to success lies in an environment that can help us compete with Google, Apple and Microsoft,” said Ni.

Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iOS, Android and Windows are the basic software for almost all PCs and portable electronics devices in the world. The primary exception is open source Linux.

Of course, the irony of the China announcement is that the People’s Republic has been widely reported to be pirating U.S. hardware and software for decades. Ironically, China now hopes to use what is a legitimate way to box out other operating systems. It will, however, need to force most of its businesses and citizens to use the new OS, since it will be incompatible with technology used nearly everywhere else in the world.

READ ALSO: 450 Million Chinese Never Go Online

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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