Source: China

Raise your hand if you would use a Chinese-made operating system. We suspect few hands are up, given the security concerns one might have over an operating system backed by a government that doesn't always have the best track record when it comes to privacy, security, and electronic espionage.

Nevertheless, a ban on the use of Windows 8 for governmental computers coupled with the loss of security updates for the popular Windows XP operating system has gotten Chinese developers thinking about home-grown operating systems.

Ni Guangnan, of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told the Xinhua news agency that a Chinese-backed operating system should be ready to launch by October of this year. The OS will even support an app store, but that's as many details as we've been able to unearth about the proposed software.

According to Guangnan, it's possible that all 'foreign' operating systems—for lack of a better way to phrase it—could be eliminated on China's desktop computers within one to two years. After that, it's plausible that a China-backed OS could supplant mobile operating systems like Google's Android within a few more years.

However, that's not to say that China's attempts to create a national operating system have always gone smoothly. Back in 2000, Red Flag Linux—partly funded by the government—was the required replacement for all governmental systems previously running Windows 2000. While popular at the time, it never enjoyed the longevity or that other operating system have managed to reach.

The company that ultimately created it, Red Flag Software, closed down in February of this year. Reports from a few days ago indicated that Penta Wan Jing Information Technology Industry Group acquired Red Flag's software assets for around $6.3 million. A revitalized Red Flag operating system, comments Guangnan, could help get a China-developed operating system even more off the ground.

Guangnan, who also leads a government-backed operating system development alliance, notes that a number of China-based operating systems already exist. However, they still fall short, technologically speaking, compared to the operating systems one can purchase from other countries.

'Creating an environment that allows us to compete with Google, Apple and Microsoft, that is our key to success,' he said, speaking to the People's Post and Telecommunications News.