A report in the South Morning China Post suggests that Apple’s macOS share is on the rise and is now at 15% in China. Microsoft Windows – like most countries – dominates the market with a share of about 85%. Now this has reportedly not gone down very well with the Chinese government. China wants to cut its reliance on tech from the US, which is clearly not happening given the growing share of Apple and the dominance of Microsoft.
China’s answer to macOS and Windows?
The news report mentions that China has stepped up its efforts to replace macOS and Windows with its own operating systems – Kylin. It is not a new OS as Kylin was introduced by the National University of Defense Technology in 2011. Although it hasn’t really gone mainstream, it is widely used by China’s military and government computers.
Now, as per reports, China is working on an open-source version of Kylin. The idea behind it is to replace Microsoft Windows and macOS. Kylinsoft, a subsidiary of state-owned China Electronics Corp, is the company behind the idea of creating an open-source version of Kylin. The report also reveals that Kylinsoft has joined hands with nearly a dozen Chinese companies to expand its efforts. By making it open-source, China will now allow programmers and developers to share code for the Kylin operating system.
It remains to be seen how quickly – and how successful – China is in mainstreaming Kylin OS. For now, it is Windows that reigns supreme in China and Apple is entering the market as well.
