[Cryptography] MSFT's Win10, Chinese Edition

Henry Baker hbaker1 at pipeline.com
Mon Mar 28 10:57:16 EDT 2016


FYI --

https://www.techinasia.com/microsoft-version-windows-10-chinese-government

Microsoft made a version of Windows 10 for the Chinese government

C.C. Custer 7:30 PM on Mar 24, 2016

If you're looking to grab Windows 10, there are a lot of versions to choose from: Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Enterprise, Windows 10 Pro, Windows 10 Mobile, etc.  Now it looks like we can add a new one to the list: Windows 10 Chinese Government Edition.

That's not the real name -- it's called Windows 10 Zhuangongban, or "Windows 10 Specially-provided Edition" -- but Microsoft really has made a version of Windows 10 for the Chinese government, according to a report in Chinese magazine Caixin.  Ralph Haupter, Microsoft China's CEO, told the magazine that through a joint venture with China's CETC, Microsoft has already completed the first version of the specialized Windows version.

This shouldn't come as a major surprise, of course.  Microsoft announced the deal and its intention to develop the China-specific software back in December.

So what's different about the Chinese government version of Windows?  Haupter told Caixin that it features fewer of Microsoft's consumer-targeted apps and services, while including more management and security controls, in accordance with the needs of China's government. Haupter didn't divulge exactly what's been changed or how different the system looks from traditional Windows 10, but he did say that it retains the ability to run any Windows-compatible programs.

Microsoft vs. Kylin?

Microsoft's new Chinese-government-specific Windows 10 isn't the only Chinese-security-focused OS on the market.  For years, China's government has itself been funding and pushing the development of what is now called NeoKylin, a partially-Chinese-developed Linux fork.  That software has finally started to see use in government circles in recent years, and a version is even being used to power China's Tianhe-2 supercomputer.

Can Microsoft beat out NeoKylin?  On its face it might seem unlikely.  But NeoKylin was itself partially foreign-developed, so neither OS is truly Chinese-made.  And Windows offers the advantage of supporting a much broader range of software than Linux-based NeoKylin.  Especially at Chinese state-owned enterprises, being able to use industry-standard software tools in Windows could give Windows 10 Zhuangongban a big leg up on NeoKylin.

(h/t to Eddie Du for spotting this story)

ABOUT C.

A Tech in Asia editor focused primarily on China, with special interest in public service, environmental, and video game tech. Follow me on Twitter as @ChinaGeeks.
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Making this Chinese Win10 version had to be as simple as pie: change the addresses of a few C&C servers, change a few ECC parameters, change the language settings, and they were good to go.  Pretty much script-kiddie activity, as with any other malware.

Repressive regimes around the globe have same surveillance goals, so the N^HUSA version was already pretty close to what Beijing wanted.



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