China blocks foreign software
A new policy from China's governing body states that all government ministries must buy only locally produced software at the next upgrade cycle.
The State Council's move, aimed at breaking the dominance of Microsoft on desktop computers, will eliminate Microsoft's Windows operating system and Office productivity suite from hundreds of thousands of Chinese government computers over the next few years.
Gao Zhigang, an official with the Procurement Center of the State Council, told reporters that the new policy will be in place by year's end.
At a special congress held to encourage ministries to upgrade to WPS Office 2003, a China-made office productivity suite, Gao said the government will purchase only hardware preinstalled with domestic operating systems and applications. Those seeking exceptions will need to submit a special request...more [Cnet]
This is a big move. It may also set the stage for other countries to do the same. Why should any other country trust MS when they are a US company? From a security and economic sense it makes a lot of sense. MS has met it's match...mj
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