Huawei is preparing to launch a new laptop, this time without Windows. The Chinese brand will release a PC equipped with HarmonyOS 5, its own operating system, by the end of May. The reason: its license to use Windows expired last March, and US sanctions prevent it from renewing it.
A Huawei laptop without Windows? It's coming soon
This isn't the first time Huawei has offered something other than Windows on its machines—some already ran Linux—but it is the first time it has pushed its own OS so far on a PC. HarmonyOS has existed since 2019 on other devices, such as smart TVs and smartphones, and this new version, dubbed "HarmonyOS Next," aims to unify all Huawei devices under a single system.
The future PC doesn't yet have a name or official specifications, but we already know a few details. First, it will run on HarmonyOS 5, designed to be consistent with what we already find on Huawei phones. It features an interface that takes ideas from macOS, with a dock, smartphone-style icons, and smooth navigation.
On the software side, Huawei has integrated its Celia voice assistant, which can do some pretty useful things: create slides for presentations, summarize a meeting, or even search through your files. And even without Word or Excel, you'll have plenty to work with: WPS Office (the Chinese equivalent of Microsoft Office) is there, as is DingTalk (a Slack designed by Alibaba). There are also already more than 2,000 apps planned to run on the system by the end of the year, including some directly from the mobile world like RedNote or Bilibili.
And good news: the machine will be able to run most classic peripherals (keyboard, mouse, external screen, etc.), but also more exotic printers or graphics tablets.
Huawei makes no secret of it: the goal is to build an Apple-like ecosystem, with a home-grown OS that runs everywhere, from smartphones to computers to connected cars. HarmonyOS is also starting to make its mark in China: it overtook iOS by the end of 2024 with a 19% market share on mobile. And this new PC is another step in this strategy.
Will that be enough to convince users to ditch Windows? In China, probably. Elsewhere, it's less certain. But Huawei has clearly decided to forge its own path, with or without Microsoft in the PC world, and without Android in the mobile universe.
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