Learning More About Ivali, StartOS, and Linux for the Chinese User [INTERVIEW]

A few weeks ago, I wrote about an interesting new startup called Ivali. The company makes StartOS, a Linux-based operating system targeted at Chinese users with the idea of providing a simple, easy-to-use, and stable platform for computing. It all looked pretty cool, but I had some follow-up questions, and I was able to get in touch with Ivali GM Zhong Zhihua.

Zhong told me that the OS doesn’t offer any special apps, but that he doesn’t see that as much of a problem. “Our main approach to R&D is creating a product that can satisfy Chinese users basic business and office needs.” StartOS doesn’t have any flashy video editing apps; what it offers users is: “ease of use, safety, stability, and expandability.”

As I mentioned in the original article, I’m a bit skeptical that StartOS will be able to attract China’s userbase, which is pretty universally Windows-centric and very much used to the Windows XP experience. Zhong told me that it was the company’s goal to create a system that was safer, more stable, faster, and easier than Windows without changing the basic Windows user experience too much. The idea is that Windows users won’t need to learn many new skills to operate StartOS, which is probably a necessary condition for any China-focused Linux build. It has also been, as Zhong put it, a “limitation” though, as it prevents StartOS from doing anything too innovative in terms of the UX.

And, as Zhong reminded me, StartOS is free, which should help attract some Windows users to it as the pirated software market is gradually reduced by crackdowns as China begins to get more serious about IP.

StartOS also features an app store, and Zhong admitted that this was indeed quite a bit like Apple’s own app store. But he also noted:

This [the app store] is to help us avoid some Windows users mistakenly believing that they can install Windows software onto a Linux platform. Additionally, most software for Linux is developed abroad and doesn’t include Chinese language, so in order to satisfy the needs of our users, we’ve done the first step of filtering some of the best apps by putting them into our app store where they’re easy to find and use. These are all free, there are no fees associated with this service [the app store].

In the future, Ivali plans to keep working on StartOS before moving on to anything new like mobile. “In our hearts,” Zhong told me, “our product isn’t completely mature yet, so we want to make it even better.”

Before talking to Zhong, I was a bit skeptical that this product, while cool, could go anywhere. And I’m still not sure how the company plans to make any money. But it does make sense to me that many Chinese businesses might be interested in a stable OS that offers an easy-to-use experience, Chinese-localized productivity software that’s compatible with Microsoft files, and not much else. In the world of business, the shortage of available applications might actually be a good thing — you can be sure everyone at work is working, or at least, you know there’s no one playing WoW in their office. But what would it take to get people to switch? I’m not sure.

“We chose the name StartOS because this is a new starting point,” Zhong told me, “the starting point we’ve dreamed of.” StartOS could be the start of something, but Zhong is going to have to pry Chinese users away from their outdated Windows builds before he can get them to share in his company’s dream.