Microsoft Forces OEMs To Lock Devices Into Windows 8 Using UEFI
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 13th Jan 2012 16:20 UTC, submitted by moondevil
Windows And so the war on general computing continues. Were you looking forward to ARM laptops and maybe even desktops now that Windows 8 will also be released for ARM? I personally was, because I'd much rather have a thin, but fast and economical machine than a beastly Intel PC. Sadly, it turns out that all our fears regarding UEFI's Secure Boot feature were justified: Microsoft prohibits OEMs from allowing you to install anything other than Windows 8 on ARM devices (the Software Freedom Law Center has more).
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RE[2]: Comment by ilovebeer
by ilovebeer on Sun 15th Jan 2012 18:04 UTC in reply to "RE: Comment by ilovebeer"
ilovebeer
Member since:
2011-08-08

Wow, you're all about the "facts", especially considering this is not a material issue yet; it's still words on a page until the devices start coming out.

Funny, I say nearly the same thing. While there are some unknowns, there are however still some existing facts which have been previously pointed out. We are not 100% in the realm of theory and speculation with this issue.

Anyway, I really think this goes beyond the realm of the end-user's OS preferences. If Microsoft succeeds in this endeavor, it will start a ball rolling all the way down the hill to the motherboard manufacturers, who will have to decide between two distinct product lines: Win8 certified boards for Win8 licensed OEMs, and general purpose boards with normal bootloaders for the build-your-own crowd. The problem with that is we all know which board type will see 90-95% sales. Why spend extra manufacturing time, money, design, development and other resources on a product that essentially appeals to a few OS and hardware geeks?

You talk as if Windows 8 is being forcefully crammed down the entire worlds throat. This is simply not true. You're also doing very heavy speculation on sales, manufacturing "expense", and market. This may come as a shock to you but Windows 8 does not completely dominate the market. For that matter, I can't think of a single company I deal with directly, or have heard that intends to deploy it.

Not to mention, websites like Newegg.com whose bread and butter is the BYO crowd might just die out completely when the board makers become an OEM only channel. What will Newegg sell then, apart from complete systems and their small line of consumer electronics? Once again, a monopoly potentially harming free trade and the economy. Go figure...

There isn't a single shred of evidence that board makers will be OEM only. The fact that newegg.com does so well is proof that the BYO crowd is much larger than people here seem willing to admit. It's not just for nerds & geeks. Do you know what newegg.com is taking in? It's a lot more than peanuts.

Windows 8, the newegg.com killer? Don't hold your breath!

And who is to say it will stop with the bootloader? Perhaps if Microsoft manages to move forward with this bullshit, they will eventually be able to lock out other OSes at the CPU level, with ARM CPUs only able to execute signed code. I hope it won't go that far, but who can say for sure?

Speculation doesn't dictate reality. As a matter of fact, the past several years have proven just how unhealthy over-speculating actually is.

Rather than fear every horrible thing my imagination can dream up, I elect to pay attention to what's actually happening while being mindful of past events. The sky is always falling to some people, I'm just not one of them.

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