Microsoft to alter Windows 9 development due to… China?

Windows 9 is in full development, and slated to arrive next year. But reports indicate that not everything is rosy in the state of Redmond – and China is to blame.

Saw a very interesting report over at Winbeta that the recent China ban of Windows 8/8.1 due to their cloud integration has really troubled Microsoft; to the point of considering altering their plans considering the new OS. Here’s a part of the article to get you started:

This is all to do with the ban of Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 in China. It has knocked Microsoft off their feet, and they are currently considering changing their plans regarding Windows 9. So far, the rumors claim that the ban has already put the original release date of Windows 9 in jeopardy, and Microsoft could be planning to make even more drastic changes to one of its SKU’s.

Mary Jo Foley has proclaimed that Microsoft will release Windows 9 in three different variants, a normal traditional SKU, a touch based SKU and an Enterprise Edition SKU. We don’t know much about the first two SKU’s, but rumors are claiming that the Enterprise Edition of Windows 9 will be the one that is hit with Microsoft’s drastic decision making the most.

According to WZOR, Windows 9 Enterprise Edition could potentially see the removal of cloud-based integration within the operating system, along with the ability to completely disable the Modern UI 2.0.

Read the rest of the article (a few Windows 8.1 Update 2 info there too) over at Winbeta.