Organizations, if not users, primarily, in China have made some considerable efforts to move away from pirated software and acquire original licenses of Windows XP.
The only problem is that they left it far too late — the old operating system is now set for imminent retirement. But that does not mean that officials in the country believe that they deserve some preferential treatment when it comes to moving away from the aging XP.
Country officials not only asked Microsoft to extend support for the old platform, they also asked Redmond to work towards providing local uses with cheaper and affordable licenses for Windows 7.
As this report reveals, this notion was part of the recent discussions between Microsoft and Chinese officials, and Redmond was requested to bring low cost versions of Windows 7 so that the computers in the country could be upgraded to the new operating system.
No word yet to whether Microsoft agreed to the request or not.
Microsoft has however made it clear that there is no turning back from here — China needs to move away from Windows XP just like the other countries around the globe.
Now you may be wondering why Windows 8 is not an option for Chinese officials. The fact that the modern OS just holds a 3.48 percent market share in the country should answer that. This number is well below the international average of over 8 percent.
Equally interesting is the fact that Windows 7 is very popular with users in the country. This flavor of Windows jumped to 40.24 percent from 31.2 percent last year.
All Comments
I don’t think MS will lower the price of Win7 as that will encourage more people moving to win7 instead of win8.x.
At least it would get them of xp which is what Microsoft wants.
It’s more possible for MS to lower price of win8 than win7.
Possibly, but its less practical. Microsoft have already covered their development costs of Win 7, unlike Win 8. Many businesses are not ready for the dramatic changes in Windows 8, and Microsoft is admitting this fact by re-introducing features such as the start menu in Windows Threshold. In my opinion they are shooting themselves in the foot by not lowering the cost of Windows 7, the OS is already 4 years old, no need to charge high prices.
It’s nothing related to development cost but strategic marketing. If they could sell more win8, they will have more market share in apps market and that will continue bringing in money. Selling win7 is just a one time revenue. For long term consideration, they would like to sell more win8 than win7. Same thing happens in Xbox One and PS4. They made little money selling the machine but they are planning to get more from game market.
You do realise we are talking about industry and government adopting Windows 7. Apps are for consumers, not industry.
There are productivity apps too. But no matter what, if MS could make developers think that a lot of people are using win8, then they will develop more apps. That will attract more people to use win8. Money will come. The problem is to create the momentum. If MS lower the price of win7 instead, the momentum will never appear.
They need to lower the price of Windows 8, they say “you wanted a lower cost OS, here it is. “
Is it harder to get cracked copies of win 8? That might explain why win 7 has grown it’s numbers. I for one don’t believe that china is putting a big effort into going legit. If they can afford to invade Tibet, they can afford to pay for windows.