Microsoft launches Windows 10 in China, offers updates through local firms

BEIJING - Microsoft will allow Chinese users to upgrade to its latest Windows 10 operating system, launched Wednesday, through Chinese tech firms Tencent, Qihoo 360, Baidu and Lenovo.

The partnership with Chinese software and hardware companies is an unprecedented promotion effort for the Redmond, Washington-based company to reach out to more users in the world's largest PC and mobile device market.

Chinese users have been slow to adopt newer version of Windows. Data from StatCounter shows that as of June this year, Windows 7 accounted for 58.1 percent of all desktop and tablet operating systems in China, followed by Windows XP, which Microsoft has stopped supporting, at 25.51 percent, compared with 12 percent worldwide. Meanwhile, Windows 8.1 has only a 6.79-percent share.

Microsoft hopes domestic partners like Tencent and Qihoo, whose online messenger QQ and anti-virus software has been installed on hundreds of millions of computers, can help promote the new operating system to a broader range of Chinese users.

Chinese PC maker Lenovo will also offer update services for users at its service stations around the country.

Windows 10 will feature a desktop version of its intelligent personal assistant Cortana, which is Microsoft's answer to Apple's Siri, and a China-only assistant called "XiaoIce," which boasts 37 million Chinese users.

Cortana has been readapted with local content as Microsoft seeks to increase Windows 10's appeal to Chinese users.

Other features of the new operating system include the new browser Windows Edge and biometric authentication service Windows Hello, which allows users to unlock devices using facial, iris or fingerprint recognition, instead of typing passwords.