Google is phasing out the Windows operating system from its internal operations following the hacking of its Chinese operation in January.
According to the Financial Times the measure is a company wide directive, which will see all Google’s employees switch to either Mac OS or Linux-based solutions. Some people are allowed to continue to use Windows on laptops but all desktops are subject to the ruling.
“We’re not doing any more Windows. It is a security effort,” a Google employee told the FT. “Many people have been moved away from PCs, mostly towards Mac OS, following the China hacking attacks.”
Another employee reported that “getting a new Windows machine now requires CIO approval.”
The January hacking incident was targeted at Google’s user profiles, and was widely interpreted as an attempt by Chinese pro-government interests attempting to identify Chinese democratic activists and caused a diplomatic furore between China and the United States.