US-China Trade War: Huawei switches from Windows to Linux

Huawei has so far been caught between the US and China in the ongoing trade war. Ever since it was put on the blacklist, there have been repercussions that were reverberated across its range of products.

While its range of smartphones lost access to Android earlier this year, it seems that now it is the turn for its range of laptops to lose their access to Microsoft's Windows OS, it seems.

Huawei is opting for Linux instead of Windows to launch its MateBook range of laptops in China. Forbes reported on Thursday, Deepin Linux will be available on MateBook laptops – the operating system is one of the most visually pleasing operating systems but is considered highly controversial.

It is a version of Linux that has been developed by a Chinese company. While it does distributions openly so that users can check it for suspicious code, it sends user data to Deepin's servers, which is even stored without explicit user permission.

The company will launch the MateBook X Pro, MateBook 13 and MateBook 14 with the operating system.

Given the state of affairs between the US and China, a US release is not expected.

If the company succeeds though, this could become a role model for other companies looking for Windows' alternatives, including HP, Dell and Lenovo.

Another interesting fact is that the laptops will not have a Windows logo for the start bar. Instead, they will just have a button marked "Start."

US President Donald Trump's strategy and Huawei's counter-strategy is something to look out for. While Trump wants to force brands such as Huawei to submit to the will of the US government, Huawei is venturing out to prove that it can succeed without the support of US-based operating systems, for both its smartphones and laptops.

It remains to be seen if it can wean away consumers who have been ordained to use these operating systems. China will be ground zero for how it functions because only restricted versions of the operating systems were available in the country till then. Another interesting aspect of the issue is that China has issued no blacklist/ban on such operating systems, even the restricted versions available in the country.