Overseas hardware vendors, in order to keep their sales channels open, have started forming partnerships with local software makers.

NeoKylin is the latest update of a local OS development program launched in 2010 by China Standard Software, the National University of Defense Technology and a number of Chinese IT firms, aiming to offer an alternative to overseas OS, such as Windows.

China Standard Software develops software products for government, defense, finance and public security customers.

But beating the 29-year-old Windows will not be a simple job, and the pre-installation scheme may not secure NeoKylin's actual market share in the country.

Dai from Forrester said some agencies and SOEs would uninstall local software for foreign-made ones because the latter are "easier to use".