(By Guancha Observer Network, Zhu Dong, edited by Zhang Guangkai)
The true appearance of HarmonyOS PC has finally been revealed.
On the morning of May 8th, at the HarmonyOS PC Technology and Ecosystem Communication Conference, the long-awaited HarmonyOS PC made its official debut. This is the first time that the HarmonyOS operating system has been launched on a PC. Huawei also provided a detailed explanation of the technical and ecosystem progress of the HarmonyOS PC.
Source: Guancha Observer Network
The launch of the HarmonyOS PC can be considered a historic moment in China's electronic information industry.
Firstly, compared to Microsoft's Windows and Apple's Mac OS, the HarmonyOS is a domestically developed operating system in China; secondly, unlike previous domestic desktop operating systems that were mostly based on secondary development of open-source Linux kernels, the HarmonyOS PC is fully stack self-developed from the kernel layer, achieving full autonomy from inside out.
For the HarmonyOS full-scene ecosystem, the arrival of the HarmonyOS PC completes a key piece of the puzzle, while also reconstructing the operating system from the kernel, bringing advanced mobile experiences to the desktop. This includes end-to-end cloud AI capabilities, seamless interconnectivity across devices, and pure and reliable security protection.
However, for an emerging operating system, advanced technology still requires support from the industrial ecosystem. Whether it's the HarmonyOS smartphone or PC, they are both representatives of Chinese technological innovation, but the ecosystem is not just Huawei's solo performance; it still requires joint efforts from all sectors to succeed.
Huawei previewed at the conference that the HarmonyOS PC will be released on May 19th.
HarmonyOS PC Source: Guancha Observer Network
What are the highlights of the HarmonyOS PC?
As the first domestically developed computer operating system for the general public, the emergence of the HarmonyOS PC is undoubtedly a historical moment, marking Huawei's terminal entering the HarmonyOS era comprehensively, but Rome was not built in a day.
The HarmonyOS operating system was initiated in 2015, and Huawei began to develop the prototype of the HarmonyOS PC based on desktop basic functions + OS foundation capabilities + soft-hard-core协同 capabilities in 2021. From 2022 to 2023, Huawei launched the engineering machines of the HarmonyOS PC, featuring ecological development frameworks + OS core component third-party access + smart office features; from 2023 to 2025, commercial machines of the HarmonyOS PC will arrive, with the goal of allowing users to use them for extended periods and on a large scale + increasing the size of the ecosystem + continuously optimizing the operating system.
Source: Guancha Observer Network
According to information disclosed by Huawei, over five years, massive R&D funds have been invested in the HarmonyOS PC, with more than 2700 core patents laid out, and over 10,000 top engineers have been gathered, involving more than 20 research institutes. As a key piece of the HarmonyOS full-scene ecosystem, besides being fully controllable from inside out, what innovative experiences the HarmonyOS PC can bring is what consumers care most about, and it is also the key to whether it can stand alongside Windows and Mac OS as three major players.
Source: Guancha Observer Network
In summary, apart from the design of the operating system interface, the idea behind the HarmonyOS PC is to transplant the advanced experiences previously developed on mobile devices to the desktop, mainly focusing on intelligence, connectivity, and security.
Compared with Windows, which has decades of history, the HarmonyOS PC was born in the age of artificial intelligence, making AI its inherent gene. According to the introduction, the HarmonyOS PC has achieved deep integration of AI and the system. On the cloud side, Huawei's own PanGu large model can integrate with third-party large models like DeepSeek, and on the endpoint side, it achieves local deployment through lightweight design, enabling end-cloud collaboration.
Source: Guancha Observer Network
In practical experience, Huawei's Xiaoyi intelligent body has made its first appearance on the HarmonyOS PC, allowing users to quickly call it up through multiple entry points such as the Xiaoyi smart key, right-click, and bottom bar, supporting natural language multi-command processing, document intelligent creation, meeting intelligent management, and other functions. Xiaoyi can also complete multiple commands with one sentence, helping users adjust system settings such as screen brightness, volume, and cursor color. At the same time, the HarmonyOS PC allows third-party applications to deploy AI functions locally, enabling core AI functions to run locally without an internet connection.
Source: Guancha Observer Network
Inter-device collaboration has always been the core concept of HarmonyOS. Based on the distributed soft bus technology of HarmonyOS, the HarmonyOS PC has also realized innovative experiences in cross-device collaboration, continuation, and sharing. For example, the unique "hand-eye同行" feature of the HarmonyOS PC allows users to quickly move the mouse to other devices such as tablets by looking at them and pressing the "Ctrl" key, eliminating the need for cross-screen dragging.
Source: Guancha Observer Network
This time, the HarmonyOS PC also supports keyboard and mouse sharing among phones, computers, and tablets, allowing more office screens to be controlled and operated using the computer's keyboard and mouse. At the same time, files between HarmonyOS PCs can be transferred using Huawei Share, with a maximum transfer rate of 160M/s; the application continuation function enables users to continue a meeting on their computer after arriving at the office after having it on their phone during the commute.
Source: Guancha Observer Network
In recent years, frequent exposure of backdoors in foreign chips and operating systems, including Windows, has drawn attention. The HarmonyOS PC this time places particular emphasis on security features, reconstructing computer privacy and data security from the ground up based on the StarShield security architecture, allowing users to manage permissions and data. It has developed super privacy mode, equipped with privacy indicator lights and anti-screenshot functions. In high-sensitivity scenarios, the robust shield protection mode can effectively prevent targeted hacker attacks, which is undoubtedly beneficial for the application of the HarmonyOS PC in key government and enterprise scenarios.
Source: Guancha Observer Network
Opportunities and Challenges Coexist, Ecosystem Construction Still Requires Industrial Synergy
The design and experience of the HarmonyOS PC are undoubtedly advanced, even surpassing Windows and Mac OS in some aspects, but the success or failure of an operating system does not depend solely on technology; it is largely determined by the ecosystem. In other words, only when more industry partners develop applications based on the HarmonyOS PC and more users start using the HarmonyOS PC can the HarmonyOS PC potentially grow.
According to market data, there are about a million apps in the Windows app store, and industry estimates suggest that including enterprise software and independent developer tools, the total number may reach several million. The Apple Mac App Store also has tens of thousands of apps. Compared to them, the HarmonyOS PC ecosystem is undoubtedly still in its infancy. According to Huawei's disclosed data, currently, more than 150 exclusive PC ecosystem applications are accelerating their adaptation, over 300 integrated ecosystem applications have completed adaptation, and it is expected to support more than 2000 integrated ecosystem applications by the end of the year.
Source: Guancha Observer Network
In fact, building a desktop ecosystem is incomparable to building a mobile app ecosystem. The main usage scenarios of smartphones are social entertainment and light office work, where the overlap of user needs is relatively high. Primarily, adapting mainstream applications such as WeChat, Alipay, Taobao, JD.com, and WPS can meet the needs of most users. However, this is not the case for the desktop. There are many heavy-duty entertainment and professional productivity applications. If these applications are missing, the desktop would struggle to perform well, naturally making it difficult to attract users.
Over the past few decades, many large desktop applications have been built on Windows, and users have formed a high level of dependence, making migration difficult to imagine.
One advantage of HarmonyOS is that it can achieve one-time development and multi-end deployment, meaning that mobile applications developed can also be applied to the desktop. This undoubtedly plays a crucial role in building the HarmonyOS PC ecosystem. Currently, mobile applications such as Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, and Feishu have been adapted for the desktop.
Mobile applications can be quickly deployed to the desktop, building a unified application ecosystem across multiple ends, providing users with richer usage scenarios. Thus, the HarmonyOS ecosystem is driving software ecosystems from "single-point adaptation" to "system integration," also pushing partners to achieve breakthroughs in multi-end growth.
However, this reporter learned at the scene that giant applications like WeChat have not yet been implemented on the HarmonyOS PC, and many large professional APPs have never developed mobile versions, which undoubtedly poses obstacles to the expansion of the HarmonyOS PC ecosystem.
HarmonyOS PC equipped with "pure-blood HarmonyOS" Source: Guancha Observer Network
Source: Guancha Observer Network
Bright future, winding road, the construction of the HarmonyOS PC ecosystem will undoubtedly be difficult.
But compared to previous domestic Linux systems, the HarmonyOS PC is indeed in an unparalleled advantageous position. First, HarmonyOS ecosystem devices have exceeded 1 billion units, and the number of existing smartphone users is in the hundreds of millions. Under the full-scene ecosystem strategy, they all have the potential to become HarmonyOS PC users; second, Huawei's PC shipments ranked second in China last year, growing by 15% against the trend; combined with concentrated R&D investment, long-term experience in building mobile app ecosystems, and policy support, HarmonyOS is currently the most promising domestically developed desktop operating system for breaking into the consumer market.
Huawei is also doing its best to gather industrial synergy. At this conference, companies such as MindManager, Meitu, ZWCAD, and Monkey Image took the stage to share how HarmonyOS is helping domestic applications quickly build differentiated core competitiveness through open system-level capabilities.
Source: Guancha Observer Network
For example, MindManager combines with the AI assistant Xiaoyi to quickly call up MindManager within 30 seconds and generate a structurally clear and professionally colored mind map. Meitu has completed the adaptation of four AI capabilities: AI removal, intelligent cropping, AI clarity enhancement, and seamless text modification. ZWCAD has created a comprehensive domestic solution from design to review through multi-end collaboration. Monkey Image has achieved cross-device drag-and-editing based on HarmonyOS's distributed technology. These functions help reshape user experiences and will attract more applications to join the HarmonyOS PC ecosystem.
Source: Guancha Observer Network
For a long time, external expectations for the HarmonyOS PC have been to replace Windows and rival Apple's Mac OS, but to some extent, this actually involves a certain misunderstanding. Windows was born in the PC Internet era, and Mac OS matured in the mobile Internet era. With the advent of the era of everything intelligent, it doesn't make much sense for HarmonyOS to simply replace them. Or to put it another way, if HarmonyOS exists merely to replace Windows and Mac OS, it will be hard for it to grow.
As a senior industry insider told the Guancha Observer Network, for a domestic operating system to truly grow, it must exist to solve specific needs. For the HarmonyOS PC, solving the demand for autonomy and control is a given, but if it can address problems that Windows and Mac OS cannot solve in terms of user experience, it will certainly attract more partners and users. It is undeniable that the unveiling of the HarmonyOS PC is the latest showcase of China's innovation capabilities, but it still requires collective efforts from the industry and the tolerance of consumers to ultimately achieve this goal.
This article is an exclusive contribution from the Guancha Observer Network and unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7501995181730693671/
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