Country officials are negotiating a potential deal with Microsoft

May 20, 2014 13:04 GMT  ·  By

China decided to ban Windows 8 on government computers earlier today, but the country officials provided no reason for the restriction that clearly affects Microsoft's efforts to boost sales in the Asian market.

According to Yan Xiaohong, National Copyright Administration deputy director, who spoke to The Economic Times after China officially announced the ban, explained that one of the reasons behind the decision could be the high price of Windows 8.

At this point, local authorities are already discussing with Microsoft a potential deal for government computers, so the ban could actually be a way to force Redmond's hand to cut down the price and offer the operating system at a lower price than the original fee.

“Security problems could arise because of a lack of technical support after Microsoft stopped providing services, making computers with XP vulnerable to hackers. Windows 8 is fairly expensive and will increase government procurement costs,” he said.

China is also developing its own Linux-based operating system to replace Windows XP, but the authorities aren't sure that local computer users are ready to abandon Windows and make the switch to an open source platform. At this point, most of the Windows copies in use in China are pirated, with Microsoft working with the government on ways to tackle this issue and convince consumers to buy legitimate licenses.