Huawei’s bold foray into the world of desktop operating systems has culminated in the official launch of HarmonyOS PC—a platform ambitiously designed to challenge the longstanding dominance of Microsoft Windows, particularly within China’s rapidly evolving tech landscape. As the global conversation around digital sovereignty and technological self-reliance gains urgency, HarmonyOS PC represents the clearest signal yet of Huawei’s intent to orchestrate its entire computing paradigm, from silicon to software, outside the reach of Western influence. But does this homegrown OS stand a chance of disrupting the powerful inertia of Windows, which remains a staple across consumer, enterprise, and governmental spheres worldwide? This article offers an in-depth examination of HarmonyOS PC’s unique architecture, ecosystem integration, user experience, and critical distinctions from Windows, alongside honest analysis of its opportunities and potential risks.
Huawei’s decision to invest in a desktop operating system emerged in the shadow of escalating geopolitical tensions and technology trade barriers. Over five years, over 10,000 engineers reportedly contributed to the project, resulting in more than 2,700 patents and culminating with HarmonyOS 5’s adaptation for the PC platform. Unlike previous efforts—such as Linux-based Deepin OS in China, which adapted foreign-developed kernels—HarmonyOS PC is announced as “fully domestic,” with Huawei touting everything from the kernel to the AI framework as wholly self-built. While such claims are difficult to independently and fully verify, the company’s track record in chip and software innovation lends them significant credibility.
Central to HarmonyOS PC’s foundational stack is the reengineered Harmony kernel. It is optimized to deliver real-time responsiveness across a wide array of devices—a requirement for Huawei’s vision of seamless, multi-device collaboration. The Ark graphics engine, acting as the system’s visual foundation, enables fluid motion, layered interfaces, and dynamic visual effects intended to rival or surpass both Windows and macOS in terms of polish and performance. Security is anchored by the new StarShield architecture, promising chip-level disk encryption, remote device wipe even when powered off, and granular privacy controls that prioritize user autonomy.
In stark contrast, HarmonyOS PC is intentionally “vertically integrated.” At launch, it is certified to run exclusively on Huawei’s own computers, starting with the new line powered by the Kirin X90 desktop chip—a 10-core processor purpose-built for performance and AI acceleration. Users are assured of tight synergy between hardware and software, minimizing the friction and inconsistencies that sometimes plague Windows in multi-OEM contexts. This approach mirrors strategies employed by Apple with macOS, where end-to-end control allows for deep optimization at every layer.
From a security standpoint, this walled garden allows HarmonyOS PC to enforce its StarShield architecture at the firmware and even silicon levels. Features such as full-disk encryption are carried out at the chip layer, ensuring that data remains inaccessible even if the physical storage is removed. By comparison, while Windows offers BitLocker and encrypted file systems, these are not universally enabled nor implemented at the hardware root except on select enterprise-certified hardware.
Huawei’s ecosystem-first mentality also affects app availability. The first release of HarmonyOS PC supports over 150 native PC apps—those designed with desktop workflows in mind—and around 2,000 universal apps compatible across Harmony devices. While this is a significant improvement from the state of Chinese PC operating systems just a few years ago, it remains a tiny fraction of Windows’ mature app library, numbering well over hundreds of thousands. However, Huawei’s APIs and development tools, such as ArkTS and ArkUI, are designed to streamline cross-device app creation, aiming to accelerate ecosystem growth.
A closer look at user interaction reveals where HarmonyOS PC is charting its own course. System-level gesture controls are notably advanced, enabling intuitive three-finger swipes, drag-and-drop multitasking, and on-the-fly window management, all with contemporary motion graphics. Multi-tasking can include split-screen and floating window modes, all optimized for both keyboard/mouse and touch inputs—a crucial distinction as the lines between traditional desktops and convertible devices continue to blur.
Windows, especially with the advent of Windows 11, has made moves to modernize its feel. Snap layouts, gesture controls on tablets, and a mild embrace of rounded corners have pushed its interface forward, but HarmonyOS PC’s design language is unashamedly ahead when it comes to animation, depth, and system-level consistency. Some may argue there’s a “too-much-gloss” factor for professional users, but for the general audience, the interface is undeniably fresh and inviting.
With HarmonyOS PC, users can share mice and keyboards, drag files across devices (such as smartphones and tablets), and even hand off apps in real-time among devices—not just mirror content, but transfer the active state for true workflow integration. Imagine working on a document on your PC, yanking it up on your phone seamlessly for a meeting, while all notifications and settings follow suit. This idea goes substantially further than Microsoft’s Phone Link, Your Phone, or OneDrive, which have made notable progress but still depend on third-party integrations and are not fundamentally woven into the OS kernel.
Critically, this seamlessness is only available within Huawei’s device universe. While this restriction grants harmony (pun intended), it also means that users with a heterogeneous mix of devices—say, a Huawei PC and a Samsung phone—won’t benefit from such deep integration, potentially limiting mainstream appeal outside China and Huawei loyalist circles.
Xiaoyi offers a range of capabilities that, on paper, appear to leapfrog Microsoft’s offerings: voice command access to system settings, smart summarization of meetings, contextual app launching, on-the-fly translation of visual content (including screenshots and PDFs), and advanced workflow automation. Voice, text, or even image input can be used to trigger system-level actions—a major step forward in accessibility and productivity.
What sets HarmonyOS PC apart is the integration depth. Where Copilot or Cortana (in its earlier Windows iterations) often felt like external agents, Xiaoyi is allowed full access to system-level APIs, meaning its scope goes beyond surfing the web or drafting an email—it can control the system with near parity to a user. Of course, such power comes with its own questions, especially around data privacy and control (more on that shortly).
It’s worth underscoring that the effectiveness of Xiaoyi—and any digital assistant—relies on continued improvement, reliable cloud connectivity, and on-device data processing. While Huawei touts a hybrid approach, mixing local AI inference with secure cloud resources, independent verification of real-world performance and privacy promises is limited. Early demonstrations show promise, but only sustained user feedback will reveal whether Xiaoyi can deliver consistently and securely at scale.
Noteworthy is the full-disk encryption applied from the hardware up. Unlike Windows, where features like BitLocker must be explicitly enabled and managed, HarmonyOS PC claims to enforce encryption by default, tied directly to the hardware. The effect: even if the storage device is physically removed, its data is rendered unreadable without proper authentication. Moreover, one-time permission grants, AI-driven anti-peeping technology (which can obfuscate sensitive screen areas if someone appears behind the user), and a robust remote wipe function—even when the device is powered off—round out an impressive list of features.
Yet, such extensive security also carries trust demands for users. With so much power and data centralized, users and organizations must take Huawei’s word that their data is not only safe from outside attackers but is not being leveraged for any form of surveillance or unintended analysis. For users with a high degree of trust in Huawei—especially within China, where data residency laws are strictly enforced—this may be a fair tradeoff. For others, particularly international users with regulatory or geopolitical concerns, the lack of third-party security auditing remains a sticking point that Huawei must work to address.
HarmonyOS PC tries to mitigate this by supporting Windows 11 through Oseasy, a built-in virtual machine environment. In theory, this allows users to run critical Windows apps that lack native HarmonyOS versions. However, the experience—especially for graphics-intensive, timing-critical, or deeply integrated software—will never match the performance and stability of running natively on Windows. Emulation incurs performance penalties, device driver compatibility can be finicky, and the seamless harmony (again, pun intended) of Huawei’s OS is undermined the moment users are forced into a virtualized Microsoft environment.
Native app development, currently at around 150 PC-specific titles and 2,000 cross-device applications, is ongoing. Huawei is incentivizing developers, offering generous revenue-sharing and powerful development tools (like ArkTS), and pointing to the millions of HarmonyOS-powered devices as an attractive platform for future growth. However, wining over entrenched developer communities takes years, not months, and only time will tell how large and vibrant the HarmonyOS PC app ecosystem will become.
However, this very strength is also a hurdle for international adoption. Outside of China, Huawei faces several daunting headwinds: entrenched habits tied to Windows, regulatory skepticism (especially in North America and Europe), and compatibility requirements with both the global software supply chain and diverse hardware ecosystems. As it stands, HarmonyOS PC is unlikely to see significant traction internationally without radical shifts in policy or developer sentiment. The OS’s core appeal—its deep integration with Huawei hardware—may even serve as a disadvantage in regions where users prefer hybrid or customized device strategies.
Yet, for all its strengths, the new OS faces headwinds as formidable as those it seeks to overcome. The inertia of software compatibility, entrenched international skepticism, and the ever-present demand for third-party validation mean that HarmonyOS PC’s journey has only just begun. Its ultimate success will not be determined solely by engineering brilliance but by its ability to cultivate trust, win hearts and minds of users and developers, and perhaps most importantly, keep delivering on its promise of a seamlessly unified digital future.
As the global desktop OS landscape readjusts in the years ahead, Windows may well retain its status as the versatile, universal “default.” But with HarmonyOS PC, Huawei has thrown down a gauntlet—a clear, confident vision that the future of computing can (and perhaps must) be built on homegrown foundations. For Chinese users, that future is arriving now. For the rest of the world, it’s a call to pay close attention, for this is more than just another OS launch; it’s the beginning of a new chapter in digital sovereignty and technological innovation.
Source: Gizmochina HarmonyOS PC Explained: How Huawei’s Desktop OS Differs from Windows - Gizmochina
The Genesis of HarmonyOS PC: Vision and Development
Huawei’s decision to invest in a desktop operating system emerged in the shadow of escalating geopolitical tensions and technology trade barriers. Over five years, over 10,000 engineers reportedly contributed to the project, resulting in more than 2,700 patents and culminating with HarmonyOS 5’s adaptation for the PC platform. Unlike previous efforts—such as Linux-based Deepin OS in China, which adapted foreign-developed kernels—HarmonyOS PC is announced as “fully domestic,” with Huawei touting everything from the kernel to the AI framework as wholly self-built. While such claims are difficult to independently and fully verify, the company’s track record in chip and software innovation lends them significant credibility.Central to HarmonyOS PC’s foundational stack is the reengineered Harmony kernel. It is optimized to deliver real-time responsiveness across a wide array of devices—a requirement for Huawei’s vision of seamless, multi-device collaboration. The Ark graphics engine, acting as the system’s visual foundation, enables fluid motion, layered interfaces, and dynamic visual effects intended to rival or surpass both Windows and macOS in terms of polish and performance. Security is anchored by the new StarShield architecture, promising chip-level disk encryption, remote device wipe even when powered off, and granular privacy controls that prioritize user autonomy.
Hardware and System Integration: A Walled Garden Refined
One of the most pivotal differences between HarmonyOS PC and Windows lies in their ecosystem philosophies. Windows, by design, is an “open-universe” OS—built to support a staggeringly broad mix of PC hardware from thousands of manufacturers over several decades. Compatibility and flexibility have always been its strengths, from supporting arcane peripherals to running applications dating back two decades.In stark contrast, HarmonyOS PC is intentionally “vertically integrated.” At launch, it is certified to run exclusively on Huawei’s own computers, starting with the new line powered by the Kirin X90 desktop chip—a 10-core processor purpose-built for performance and AI acceleration. Users are assured of tight synergy between hardware and software, minimizing the friction and inconsistencies that sometimes plague Windows in multi-OEM contexts. This approach mirrors strategies employed by Apple with macOS, where end-to-end control allows for deep optimization at every layer.
From a security standpoint, this walled garden allows HarmonyOS PC to enforce its StarShield architecture at the firmware and even silicon levels. Features such as full-disk encryption are carried out at the chip layer, ensuring that data remains inaccessible even if the physical storage is removed. By comparison, while Windows offers BitLocker and encrypted file systems, these are not universally enabled nor implemented at the hardware root except on select enterprise-certified hardware.
Huawei’s ecosystem-first mentality also affects app availability. The first release of HarmonyOS PC supports over 150 native PC apps—those designed with desktop workflows in mind—and around 2,000 universal apps compatible across Harmony devices. While this is a significant improvement from the state of Chinese PC operating systems just a few years ago, it remains a tiny fraction of Windows’ mature app library, numbering well over hundreds of thousands. However, Huawei’s APIs and development tools, such as ArkTS and ArkUI, are designed to streamline cross-device app creation, aiming to accelerate ecosystem growth.
The Experience Layer: User Interface and Workflow Innovation
For anyone accustomed to Windows’ familiar, tile-centric desktop or the Windows 11 taskbar, HarmonyOS PC’s visual design is immediately distinctive—and, perhaps, more reminiscent of macOS than Windows. Icons are docked in a centered bar at the bottom. The interface employs top status bars for notifications and quick controls, while the desktop relies on a clean, card-based layout to organize running applications and widgets. Dynamic wallpapers and layered animation effects lend a modern, visually-engaging aura to the OS.A closer look at user interaction reveals where HarmonyOS PC is charting its own course. System-level gesture controls are notably advanced, enabling intuitive three-finger swipes, drag-and-drop multitasking, and on-the-fly window management, all with contemporary motion graphics. Multi-tasking can include split-screen and floating window modes, all optimized for both keyboard/mouse and touch inputs—a crucial distinction as the lines between traditional desktops and convertible devices continue to blur.
Windows, especially with the advent of Windows 11, has made moves to modernize its feel. Snap layouts, gesture controls on tablets, and a mild embrace of rounded corners have pushed its interface forward, but HarmonyOS PC’s design language is unashamedly ahead when it comes to animation, depth, and system-level consistency. Some may argue there’s a “too-much-gloss” factor for professional users, but for the general audience, the interface is undeniably fresh and inviting.
Distributed Intelligence: Seamless Multi-Device Collaboration
Arguably the crown jewel of HarmonyOS PC is its approach to device collaboration—a feature that roots itself in the system’s very architecture rather than relying on add-on utilities. Huawei’s distributed soft bus technology, built into HarmonyOS from its initial inception on IoT devices, enables cross-device continuity at a granular level and with very low latency.With HarmonyOS PC, users can share mice and keyboards, drag files across devices (such as smartphones and tablets), and even hand off apps in real-time among devices—not just mirror content, but transfer the active state for true workflow integration. Imagine working on a document on your PC, yanking it up on your phone seamlessly for a meeting, while all notifications and settings follow suit. This idea goes substantially further than Microsoft’s Phone Link, Your Phone, or OneDrive, which have made notable progress but still depend on third-party integrations and are not fundamentally woven into the OS kernel.
Critically, this seamlessness is only available within Huawei’s device universe. While this restriction grants harmony (pun intended), it also means that users with a heterogeneous mix of devices—say, a Huawei PC and a Samsung phone—won’t benefit from such deep integration, potentially limiting mainstream appeal outside China and Huawei loyalist circles.
AI Everywhere: The Rise of Xiaoyi and Embedded Intelligence
No contemporary OS launch in the AI era could be complete without a flagship intelligent assistant, and HarmonyOS PC delivers in spades. Enter Xiaoyi—Huawei’s AI assistant, leveraging the company’s powerful Pangu and DeepSeek models. Unlike Microsoft’s Copilot (now being incorporated in Windows and Microsoft 365), Xiaoyi is not an optional add-on but an omnipresent entity embedded into the very bones of the OS.Xiaoyi offers a range of capabilities that, on paper, appear to leapfrog Microsoft’s offerings: voice command access to system settings, smart summarization of meetings, contextual app launching, on-the-fly translation of visual content (including screenshots and PDFs), and advanced workflow automation. Voice, text, or even image input can be used to trigger system-level actions—a major step forward in accessibility and productivity.
What sets HarmonyOS PC apart is the integration depth. Where Copilot or Cortana (in its earlier Windows iterations) often felt like external agents, Xiaoyi is allowed full access to system-level APIs, meaning its scope goes beyond surfing the web or drafting an email—it can control the system with near parity to a user. Of course, such power comes with its own questions, especially around data privacy and control (more on that shortly).
It’s worth underscoring that the effectiveness of Xiaoyi—and any digital assistant—relies on continued improvement, reliable cloud connectivity, and on-device data processing. While Huawei touts a hybrid approach, mixing local AI inference with secure cloud resources, independent verification of real-world performance and privacy promises is limited. Early demonstrations show promise, but only sustained user feedback will reveal whether Xiaoyi can deliver consistently and securely at scale.
Security and Privacy: Building Trust in a New Era
Huawei is keenly aware that privacy and security are now the front and center concerns for government, enterprise, and personal users alike. With HarmonyOS PC, the company’s StarShield architecture is a headline feature—a multi-layer security suite that reportedly covers everything from secure boot processes to chip-level disk encryption.Noteworthy is the full-disk encryption applied from the hardware up. Unlike Windows, where features like BitLocker must be explicitly enabled and managed, HarmonyOS PC claims to enforce encryption by default, tied directly to the hardware. The effect: even if the storage device is physically removed, its data is rendered unreadable without proper authentication. Moreover, one-time permission grants, AI-driven anti-peeping technology (which can obfuscate sensitive screen areas if someone appears behind the user), and a robust remote wipe function—even when the device is powered off—round out an impressive list of features.
Yet, such extensive security also carries trust demands for users. With so much power and data centralized, users and organizations must take Huawei’s word that their data is not only safe from outside attackers but is not being leveraged for any form of surveillance or unintended analysis. For users with a high degree of trust in Huawei—especially within China, where data residency laws are strictly enforced—this may be a fair tradeoff. For others, particularly international users with regulatory or geopolitical concerns, the lack of third-party security auditing remains a sticking point that Huawei must work to address.
Application Compatibility: The Achilles’ Heel?
Without question, the single greatest challenge facing HarmonyOS PC in its early days is application compatibility—a problem that has bedeviled countless alternative desktop operating systems over the years. Windows’ enduring dominance is built as much on inertia as innovation: hundreds of thousands of applications, from legacy enterprise software to the latest gaming titles, rely on Windows as their home platform. Even Apple, with its deep pockets and loyal developer base, struggles to bring certain Windows-first or Windows-only titles (especially specialized tools) to macOS without resorting to virtual machines or emulation.HarmonyOS PC tries to mitigate this by supporting Windows 11 through Oseasy, a built-in virtual machine environment. In theory, this allows users to run critical Windows apps that lack native HarmonyOS versions. However, the experience—especially for graphics-intensive, timing-critical, or deeply integrated software—will never match the performance and stability of running natively on Windows. Emulation incurs performance penalties, device driver compatibility can be finicky, and the seamless harmony (again, pun intended) of Huawei’s OS is undermined the moment users are forced into a virtualized Microsoft environment.
Native app development, currently at around 150 PC-specific titles and 2,000 cross-device applications, is ongoing. Huawei is incentivizing developers, offering generous revenue-sharing and powerful development tools (like ArkTS), and pointing to the millions of HarmonyOS-powered devices as an attractive platform for future growth. However, wining over entrenched developer communities takes years, not months, and only time will tell how large and vibrant the HarmonyOS PC app ecosystem will become.
Internationalization: The Limits of Digital Sovereignty
For Huawei and for China, HarmonyOS PC is as much a symbolic statement as a technological one—a tangible step toward decoupling from Western-dominated software stacks amid trade disputes and rising political friction. In this context, the product’s strategic value is immense. For domestic users, government offices, and sectors with heightened security needs, HarmonyOS PC offers a made-in-China alternative that promises not just better integration, but also full control over every byte of information and line of code running on machines.However, this very strength is also a hurdle for international adoption. Outside of China, Huawei faces several daunting headwinds: entrenched habits tied to Windows, regulatory skepticism (especially in North America and Europe), and compatibility requirements with both the global software supply chain and diverse hardware ecosystems. As it stands, HarmonyOS PC is unlikely to see significant traction internationally without radical shifts in policy or developer sentiment. The OS’s core appeal—its deep integration with Huawei hardware—may even serve as a disadvantage in regions where users prefer hybrid or customized device strategies.
Critical Strengths: Where HarmonyOS PC Outshines
- End-to-End Optimization: Vertical integration means that every aspect of the system, from chipset drivers to UI polish, can be tuned for latency, battery life, and performance—a huge win over fragmented Windows configure-and-hope-for-the-best setups.
- Unmatched Device Collaboration: The ability to truly merge user experiences across phone, tablet, and PC (provided they’re Huawei-branded) is powerful for both productivity and home users, outpacing even the most ambitious integrations from Microsoft or Apple.
- AI Pervasiveness: Xiaoyi’s access to the system core and its multi-modal input capabilities create opportunities for smart workflows that feel natural rather than bolted-on. For users comfortable with voice or image-driven computing, this is a leap forward.
- Security by Design: By anchoring its privacy tools and disk encryption at the hardware and firmware level, HarmonyOS PC can promise a level of out-of-the-box security that few if any Windows machines can match, especially at the consumer tier.
Real Risks: Hurdles and Open Questions
- App Ecosystem Gaps: No amount of system brilliance can overcome gaps in mission-critical software. Unless HarmonyOS PC can rapidly expand its developer base, many users will be forced into virtualization or dual-OS workflows—a recipe for frustration.
- International Skepticism: Outside China, both governments and consumers may be wary of moving sensitive data onto Huawei-controlled platforms, citing both regulatory and political reasons.
- Vendor Lock-In: HarmonyOS PC’s strengths are maximized in a pure-Huawei environment. For mixed-device households or offices, or in situations where users simply want the freedom of broader hardware choice, the appeal drops sharply.
- Performance Uncertainties: While demos and synthetic benchmarks show promise, comprehensive third-party reviews of HarmonyOS PC’s performance and stability, especially under load or in edge cases, remain limited. Users considering mission-critical deployment are advised to await such validation.
The Road Ahead: A Calculated Leap Toward the Future
For China’s technological ambitions and the millions of users within its borders who seek a highly integrated, future-proof computing environment, HarmonyOS PC is nothing short of a revelation. Its blend of security, cross-device fluidity, and AI-centric workflows pushes the desktop OS genre forward in ways Microsoft, weighed down by its legacy, cannot easily match. In doing so, HarmonyOS PC renders itself not just an answer to a technical need but a formidable vehicle for national digital independence.Yet, for all its strengths, the new OS faces headwinds as formidable as those it seeks to overcome. The inertia of software compatibility, entrenched international skepticism, and the ever-present demand for third-party validation mean that HarmonyOS PC’s journey has only just begun. Its ultimate success will not be determined solely by engineering brilliance but by its ability to cultivate trust, win hearts and minds of users and developers, and perhaps most importantly, keep delivering on its promise of a seamlessly unified digital future.
As the global desktop OS landscape readjusts in the years ahead, Windows may well retain its status as the versatile, universal “default.” But with HarmonyOS PC, Huawei has thrown down a gauntlet—a clear, confident vision that the future of computing can (and perhaps must) be built on homegrown foundations. For Chinese users, that future is arriving now. For the rest of the world, it’s a call to pay close attention, for this is more than just another OS launch; it’s the beginning of a new chapter in digital sovereignty and technological innovation.
Source: Gizmochina HarmonyOS PC Explained: How Huawei’s Desktop OS Differs from Windows - Gizmochina
