Microsoft agreed to a deal with Chinese tech giant Baidu. (Photo : Reuters)
Tech giant Microsoft recently announced that it is partnering up with China's biggest search engine Baidu. The move is part of Microsoft's ongoing drive to push the Windows 10 operating system into the market.
The move surprised many in the tech world as Microsoft decided to ditch its default search engine Bing in favor of the Baidu. The Baidu search engine is the most used search service in China and widely regarded as the Chinese equivalent of Google.
The deal states that the Windows 10 default browser Microsoft Edge will have use the Baidu.com domain as its default homepage. Through this strategy, Microsoft will easily reach more Baidu's 600 million strong users. It will also entice Baidu users to upgrade to Windows 10.
According to The Verge, through this deal, Baidu will integrate its native search, cloud, maps and video features to the Windows 10 operating system.
To make the transition easier for Chinese users, the official Windows 10 operating system can be acquired through Baidu's Windows 10 Express distribution channel.
According to Microsoft, there are about 10 million Windows 10 users in China. However, this statistics is eclipsed by the number of Chinese users that still run their computers on old or pirated variants of Windows. By integrating its brand into Baidu, Microsoft is hoping to convince these users to upgrade to Windows 10.
According to CNN, more than 90 percent of PC's in China still uses illegal copies of Windows.
Before the deal with Baidu, Microsoft has been actively negotiating with other Chinese companies such as Xiaomi, Lenovo and Tencent. Many analysts consider China as the biggest and most lucrative market for tech companies.
