China’s government-supported operating system is about to launch

China’s next try at a government-supported operating system may soon become a practical reality. The Chinese Academy of Engineering tells the People’s Post that a desktop version of China Operating System (COS) should be ready by October, with mobile device support coming later. That’s pretty quick considering that we first heard about the software in January, although there’s a chance it could slip. Xinhua claims that the project is suffering from both a lack of funding and developers “pulling in different directions”, not totally surprising if true, since it’s the work of a public-private alliance that might not always share the same vision.

China could have a new homegrown operating system by October to take on imported rivals such as Microsoft Corp, Google Inc and Apple Inc, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday. Computer technology became an area of tension between China and the United States after a number of run-ins over cyber security. China is now looking to help its domestic industry catch up with imported systems such as Microsoft’s Windows and Google’s mobile operating system Android. The operating system would first appear on desktop devices and later extend to smartphone and other mobile devices, Xinhua said, citing Ni Guangnan who heads an official OS development alliance established in March. Ni’s comments were originally reported by the People’s Post and Telecommunications News, an official trade paper run by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). “We hope to launch a Chinese-made desktop operating system by October supporting app stores,” Ni told the trade paper. Some Chinese OS already existed, but there was a large gap between China’s technology and that of developed countries, he added.