Windows 8 Secure Boot: Calm down, Microsoft is simply copying Apple

[powertower]

Anyone else run into this yet:

Microsofts Latest Sand Bagging

I had a laptop come in a few days ago with a boot problem. The user downgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 7. During the process, it hung in a reboot. I googled the error and found out that Microsoft is working with hardware vendors to lock down their hardware to a specific operating system. The one I had was a Toshiba laptop.

 

[RogueTrip]

I had issues with Secure boot and Linux Mint 14 on a new Toshiba laptop recently. Promptly returned the laptop due to other issues though.

 

[AndreRio]

That's like...Crazy!! Microsoft doing that is just Crazy..

 

[Tsumi]

Anyone else run into this yet:

Microsofts Latest Sand Bagging

I had a laptop come in a few days ago with a boot problem. The user downgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 7. During the process, it hung in a reboot. I googled the error and found out that Microsoft is working with hardware vendors to lock down their hardware to a specific operating system. The one I had was a Toshiba laptop.

Umm... no, not remotely the same. Secure boot is required for UEFI Fast Boot GOP, and is designed to protect the computer against malware attacks.

One of the requirements for secure boot is that it can be user disabled in the bios, although this only applies to x86 systems and not ARM systems. Sensationalist article (and OP) is sensationalist.

Edit: Actually, only the title of the article is sensationalist, the article explains the feature pretty well.

As for some of the questions it brings up... can Windows RT be used on other ARM systems? The answer is that yes, it can, it has been shown that it can run on an HTC HD2. And like every tablet OS before it, devs and hackers will find ways of rooting the system.

 

[SuperSubZero]

Anyone else run into this yet:

Microsofts Latest Sand Bagging

I had a laptop come in a few days ago with a boot problem. The user downgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 7. During the process, it hung in a reboot. I googled the error and found out that Microsoft is working with hardware vendors to lock down their hardware to a specific operating system. The one I had was a Toshiba laptop.

I'm bad at reading, can you quote the first paragraph of the article you're linking to, so everyone can see it? Thanks.

 

[powertower]

I had issues with Secure boot and Linux Mint 14 on a new Toshiba laptop recently. Promptly returned the laptop due to other issues though.

Exactly. I disabled secure boot in BIOS and was unable to get windows 7 going. Looks like the system needs more work. I also sent that user back to Best Buy for a refund / exchange.

 

[pxc]

The article is from 2012, bro. Anyone who cared has been angst-ed out for a while, outside slashdot.

The obviously solution is to not buy a Windows RT (or iOS or any number of other OSs) device in order to run Linux. It really belongs in the realm of "a very tiny percentage of people who feel really strongly about something and make a lot of noise about it", rather than something virtually any normal people care about.

 

[devil22]

Secure Boot is a good thing, as stated it's mandated that it be user disable-able on x86 mobos, but the protection it provides is really good. Malware can theoretically infect any updateable device ROM (or the boot sector), and while almost none does, the industry should be applauded for fixing an issue before it becomes one. SecureBoot will make sure that device roms (SSDs, GPU, network card firmwares, etc.) are signed, along with the boot sector, this prevents malware from surviving a re-install of the OS by hiding in those places, which could be a major issue one day, otherwise.

 

[yelsewshane]

Why not just delete the rom and install a new rom !?!?! Guess that would be too difficult for some people.

 

[athlon1.2]

Secure boot is just an attempt to limit Windows piracy because the Windows 7 is pirated by a modified bootloader. Nothing more and nothing less.

 

[heatlesssun]

Secure boot is just an attempt to limit Windows piracy because the Windows 7 is pirated by a modified bootloader. Nothing more and nothing less.

That's part of it but there are many other considerations. Secure boot has a lot of appeal in the enterprise.

 

[devil22]

Secure boot is just an attempt to limit Windows piracy because the Windows 7 is pirated by a modified bootloader. Nothing more and nothing less.

Very definitive, but very wrong. Since Secure Boot can be disabled at will, and thus pirates can disable it, it has nothing to do with piracy.

 

[pxc]

Secure boot is just an attempt to limit Windows piracy because the Windows 7 is pirated by a modified bootloader. Nothing more and nothing less.

Secure boot is partly that, but primarily securing the OS during a critical stage of loading.

There are similar schemes used on non-Windows hardware for exactly the same security reasons.

Anyways, while pirates figure everything relates to them, it's not a big concern overall. The bootloader shim is detectable and not even the best way of getting around checks.