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Windows 8 OEM specs may block Linux booting

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Re: Windows 8 OEM specs may block Linux booting

#31

Post by dpark »

wmf wrote: post #25
dpark wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The point of the article isn't that the machines will be Windows-only, but that dual booting may no longer be possible. It makes a point of emphasizing that secure booting will likely be easy for the user to disable, although that will disable Windows 8 as well. Never going to happen. Win8 will install on machines built for Win7. Win 8 is not going to refuse to boot on machines that have boot signing disabled.

That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about the Windows 8 Logo Program , which is basically that sticker on a new PC that says it is certified to run Windows 8.

I think we're actually talking about some paranoid hype written about a blog post written about a slide deck.

Maybe Microsoft will require OEMs to support secure boot to be certified for Win8 (fine by me). That doesn't mean that the user won't be able to disable it if they want, and it definitely doesn't mean Win8 won't run when it's turned off.

Re: Windows 8 OEM specs may block Linux booting

#34

Post by raphman »

braco_alva wrote: post #32

But even if this was true, there is still ways around this right? I mean rEFIt does a pretty good job booting up Linux in Mac, so wouldn't this be possible in those PC's as well?

nope, rEFIt would need to be signed, too, as it is involved in the boot process.

Re: Windows 8 OEM specs may block Linux booting

#35

Post by jsz0 »

Linux (on the desktop) is probably of little or no concern to Microsoft at this point. They've got bigger problems to worry about. If they want to focus on making computers sold with Windows offer the best possible experience it will benefit the most people. Possibly it will make things harder for Linux users but from Microsoft's perspective if the OEM is shipping Windows there's no reason to consider Linux as part of the equation.

Re: Windows 8 OEM specs may block Linux booting

#36

Post by raphman »

idonthack wrote: post #10
mjg59 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm told that at least one vendor will be providing some systems that don't allow you to disable the requirement.

Well I'M told they WON'T.

mjg59 wrote the original blog post - he might know more than you.

Re: Windows 8 OEM specs may block Linux booting

#37

Post by caf »

wmf wrote: post #25
dpark wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The point of the article isn't that the machines will be Windows-only, but that dual booting may no longer be possible. It makes a point of emphasizing that secure booting will likely be easy for the user to disable, although that will disable Windows 8 as well. Never going to happen. Win8 will install on machines built for Win7. Win 8 is not going to refuse to boot on machines that have boot signing disabled.

That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about the Windows 8 Logo Program , which is basically that sticker on a new PC that says it is certified to run Windows 8.

Right, but Windows 8 should still happily boot on a Windows 8 Logo'd PC which has had signed boot disabled by the user for the same reason that it happily boots on non-Logo'd PCs.

Re: Windows 8 OEM specs may block Linux booting

#38

Post by jonhohle »

dpark wrote: post #20

Unless I'm misunderstanding something, this is silly FUD. Microsoft isnt stupid enough (or evil enough, despite what some like to believe) to attempt to force PC oems to effectively block all OSes except Windows. They know this wouldn't work, and there'd be no point in trying to force it. Supporting hardened boot is not the same as requiring it. Microsoft already utilizes this for BitLocker. You can still install Lin…

> Microsoft isnt stupid enough (or evil enough, despite what some like to believe) to attempt to force PC oems to effectively block all OSes except Windows.

Um, Microsoft used to do exactly this. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/08/31/jean_louis_gass_233_... I don't know if they have the muscle or the guts to try something like this again.

edit: fixed typo

Re: Windows 8 OEM specs may block Linux booting

#39

Post by recoiledsnake »

jrockway wrote: post #8

I doubt any major vendor will do this. First off, they don't want to be locked into selling Microsoft-only machines. If they can't pretend Linux is an option, Microsoft can charge them $1000 for a Windows license and there's nothing they can do about it. If they have Linux hanging over Microsoft's head, though, they'll get better pricing on Windows. (Think this won't happen? It already did with XP on netbooks. When M…

> Nobody uses Windows as a server OS,

This is the problem with getting tech news only from HN.

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