HP to ship PCs with Ubuntu Kylin in China as ‘XP replacements’

HP will supply PCs in China that run on Ubuntu Kylin, an Ubuntu version that has been designated by the Chinese government as the reference platform for its own OS. With the move, HP wants to respond to the replacement of old and insecure Windows XP machines by Chinese.

XP is still widely used in China: about 40 percent of Chinese internet users still use computers running the now no longer supported operating system, StatCounter calculated in April. A large part of it is also illegal. Windows 8’s market share would only be a few percent.

In an effort to cater to Chinese looking to replace their aging XP machines, HP is partnering with Ubuntu developer Canonical to equip new PCs with Ubuntu Kylin. This Ubuntu variant, which was developed in collaboration with the Chinese government, serves as a reference platform for an ‘official OS’. The machines will ship with the latest LTS release, Ubuntu 14.04, ZDnet reports.

Although Ubuntu Kylin’s market share in China is still small, Canonical states that its popularity is growing. By default, the OS integrates a number of Chinese services, such as Baidu and Taobao, and offers input options for Chinese characters. A Chinese calendar is also present, as well as Kingsoft WPS instead of LibreOffice. Last year, Dell already decided to start selling PCs and laptops with Ubuntu in China.