The specialized Chinese version of Windows was already scheduled for retirement in February 2027, but now its end-of-life date has been moved up.

According to a Bloomberg report, attributed to China’s Ministry of State Security, the country has ordered some government agencies to drop Windows 10 China Government Edition for Chinese-made Linux distributions.

The Chinese government did not specify which Linux versions would replace Windows 10. However, the stock prices of Chinese Linux suppliers, Kylin Software and Tongxin Software Technology (commonly known as UnionTech), immediately jumped.

These companies’ respective operating systems, Kylin OS (no relation to Ubuntu Kylin) and UnionTech OS (UOS), were already positioned as domestic desktop and server replacements for Windows in government, state-owned enterprise, and critical-infrastructure environments.

This change to Linux doesn’t mean that there will be a nationwide ban on all Windows installations in China. Windows Home China 11, a restricted, factory-locked edition that requires you to use only Chinese, is still available.

The transition also doesn’t mean that every government body has been ordered to abandon Microsoft software. The directive’s scope remains undisclosed. Still, the writing is on the wall: China’s future government desktop will be Linux.