Lei Jun, Xiaomi founder and CEO
Lei Jun, Xiaomi founder and CEO, speaks at a launch ceremony for the Xiaomi Phone 4 in Beijing in 2014. Reuters/Jason Lee

Ahead of the launch of the all new Windows 10 Mobile, the company is looking at a strategy of converting Android handsets to Microsoft’s OS. The Redmond giant is leaving no stone unturned to make Windows 10 reach out to all customers. Microsoft is looking to kick start the Insider program in China for Xiaomi smartphone owners.

Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore announced the news on Twitter on Thursday, saying, “We intend to start our insider program in China with Xiaomi phones in the next few weeks...The software is running very nicely on these!” This will allow Xiaomi users to avail Windows 10 Mobile on their devices. Earlier this year, Microsoft rolled out a Windows 10 Mobile ROM to Xiaomi Mi4 following an “experimental program” to test the upcoming OS on Xiaomi hardware. A few beta testers were invited to download and install a special Windows 10 Mobile ROM on their Mi4 handsets. The earlier beta program was limited to Beijing but this time it seems that the program will be expanded to cover the entire country. No specific date has been mentioned in the tweet and it is expected to roll out in the coming weeks.

Xiaomi has a strong user base in China as far as Android smartphones concerned. Microsoft intends to get direct feedback from customers in China before the official launch of its Windows 10 Mobile. The software maker opted Xiaomi, the second largest handset maker in China for its vocal customer base says Windows Central in a report. More people running Windows on a handset could persuade more developers to the Windows ecosystem. Mi 4 has already been a part of the special Windows Insider program and should run Microsoft’s latest OS as well. The device runs on a 2.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon chip paired with 3 GB of memory.

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