Story perspectives

China Orders Agencies Off Windows 10 China Edition

8/23/2026

Summary

Story summary

China’s Ministry of State Security ordered state-linked agencies to uninstall the Windows 10 China Government Edition.
The phase-out, originally set for February 2027, now moves to later in 2026.
Officials cited unspecified data-security concerns as the reason for the acceleration.
Agencies will replace it with domestic Linux distributions such as Kylin OS and UnionTech’s UOS.
Shares of Kylin Software and UnionTech rose to Shanghai’s 20% single-day cap after the directive.

History

Historical Context

November 2016 the NPC Standing Committee enacted the Cybersecurity Law, effective June 1 2017, mandating data localization and security reviews of foreign software (Article 35). This forced Microsoft’s Windows out of ministries, letting Kylin Software and UnionTech claim 30 % of government market by 2020. An amendment approved Oct 28 2025, effective Jan 1 2026, lets Ministry of State Security accelerate the phase-out, replacing Windows 10 China Government Edition with Kylin OS and UnionTech’s UOS.

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Story summary

China’s Ministry of State Security ordered state-linked agencies to uninstall the Windows 10 China Government Edition.
The phase-out, originally set for February 2027, now moves to later in 2026.
Officials cited unspecified data-security concerns as the reason for the acceleration.
Agencies will replace it with domestic Linux distributions such as Kylin OS and UnionTech’s UOS.
Shares of Kylin Software and UnionTech rose to Shanghai’s 20% single-day cap after the directive.

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