The Chinese government will continue to use modified versions of the Windows XP, as it believes that upgrading to Windows 8 would be too expensive.
Microsoft officially ended support for Windows XP on April 8, but the Chinese market remains committed to it. In fact, XP continues to be the main operating system for the Chinese public administration.
An estimated 70% of personal computers in the country still use XP, or about 200 million systems, according to StatCounter research. It's worth noting that XP usage in the US has fallen to 18%.
According to statements by the deputy director of the Chinese National Administration of Copyright, Yan Xiaohong, to the Sky network, upgrading to a newer version of Windows is not even being considered. The reason is purely financial.
The Directorate estimated that for each Windows 8 license the cost in China would be around 103 euros, while with special discounts this amount could be reduced to 35 euros. However, even so the total cost for the Chinese public sector was considered excessive.
Meanwhile, unlike government agencies in European countries, China will not even proceed with an extended support agreement for XP with Microsoft. On the contrary, according to Yan, Chinese security companies are already working to develop patches for the old operating system in an effort to reduce security gaps.
Source: naftemporiki.gr
