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Windows 8 secure boot would 'exclude' Linux - Microsoft wants firmware to only start authorised OSes
The Register ^ | 9/21/11 | John Leyden

Posted on 09/21/2011 5:57:26 PM PDT by LibWhacker

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To: Cicero

Dell?

Where did that come from? I personally doubt they have signed on. They sell a lot of Linux servers and just went through a dispute with Microsoft over some overseas supplier enforcement nonsense.

If it is important, I can find out. Have a connection.

I have bought very few packaged machines in my life. Have used lots of company machines, but generally always built my personal ones. From components or from older machines.

Built my first PC in 1982. That has been a while.


21 posted on 09/21/2011 7:18:31 PM PDT by Texas Fossil (Government, even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one)
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To: SmokingJoe

The article is talking about booting to a non-Microsoft, non-signed OS. Of course you can dual boot into other installs of Windows. I do think the article is probably a little hyperbolic - you’d probably be able to disable the functionality.


22 posted on 09/21/2011 7:30:04 PM PDT by Wayne07
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To: LibWhacker
My advice, save yourself the trouble and wait 3 years for Microsoft to release Windows 9 with their usual apologies for Windows 8. Why is it that every time they come up with something that basically works they have to rush out and force some piece of crap on us that is suppose to make 'Apple obsolete".

Someone needs to explain to me why Bill Gates puts out Vista (Windows ME, etc, etc, etc) and Steve Jobs gets cancer??? Where is the justice in that????

23 posted on 09/21/2011 7:33:23 PM PDT by txroadkill (Ghandi would have smacked 0bama in the head)
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To: SmokingJoe

I was on the inside of Google briefly. Evil.


24 posted on 09/21/2011 7:59:38 PM PDT by Born to Conserve
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To: Born to Conserve

Gee you mean pc’s will be just like Mac’s were for most of their existence.. how.. dumb.


25 posted on 09/21/2011 8:21:45 PM PDT by Bidimus1
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To: LibWhacker
Here's the thing though: I don't find Linux to be a really viable alternative to Windows on desktop/laptop machines, mostly because the Windows ecosystem is so much bigger, especially with software selection.

Linux as a server operating system is a great idea, but Linux as a desktop operating system, I have my doubts.

26 posted on 09/21/2011 8:29:23 PM PDT by RayChuang88 (FairTax: America's economic cure)
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To: Texas Fossil

My comment was tongue-in-cheek, except for the part about the whole world in the crapper, which was entirely sincere.

I run SUSE and a Debian-derivative called Anti-X on various machines.


27 posted on 09/21/2011 8:42:36 PM PDT by steve86 (Acerbic by nature, not nurture (Could be worst in 40 years))
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To: txroadkill

Yep, it’s a rule that every other MS OS is gonna suck bigtime, so I won’t bother with Windows 8 at all.


28 posted on 09/21/2011 8:51:56 PM PDT by Boogieman
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To: KoRn
The PC makers should tell MS to piss up a rope!

Yeah, right. Microsoft's likely response: "Right back at ya."

After all...they're Microsoft, doncha know.

29 posted on 09/21/2011 9:23:18 PM PDT by LaybackLenny (All hail Her Royal Highness Sarah, Queen of The Hobbits)
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To: steve86

I have run several flavors of Linux. Started with a UMSDOS version of slackware then Mandrake, Redhat and recently Xubuntu. I really like XFCE window manager, used it on Redhat for years before making the switch to Xubuntu.

I am more a command line guy, but Xubuntu 11.04 is pretty nice. I had to add a number of apps, but I am very happy with this machine.

I would have installed Debian but found that downloading the install disc was a pain so I opted for Xubuntu.


30 posted on 09/21/2011 10:19:03 PM PDT by Texas Fossil (Government, even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one)
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To: rdb3; Calvinist_Dark_Lord; GodGunsandGuts; CyberCowboy777; Salo; Bobsat; JosephW; ...

31 posted on 09/22/2011 6:01:33 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: rdb3; Calvinist_Dark_Lord; GodGunsandGuts; CyberCowboy777; Salo; Bobsat; JosephW; ...

32 posted on 09/22/2011 6:02:13 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: LibWhacker

I’m sure the linux crowd will be able to figure it out.


33 posted on 09/22/2011 6:26:20 AM PDT by for-q-clinton (If at first you don't succeed keep on sucking until you do succeed)
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To: KoRn

MS will make it a precondition to preload WIndows 8. Just like the early days when every computer included a Windows license even if it was shipped bare with no operating system. If anyone else did that it would be restraint of trade but MS has the DOJ in their pocket and gets away with predatory acts such as this.


34 posted on 09/22/2011 6:49:24 AM PDT by NCjim (Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.)
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To: LibWhacker
As always, microsoft is attempting to raise barriers to entry for any competitors.

How about, instead of worrying about boot times, you design the computer so it doesn't have to boot constantly? I rarely reboot a box, and often go months without having to. Who would really care if a boot process took 10 minutes if it only happened once or twice a year?

I'll never buy a computer that has this kind of vendor lock-in. It all boils down to the question of, "who's computer is it?" Microsoft would love to be able to exert as much control over your property as you're willing to let them get away with. It gives them power over your choices that they wouldn't otherwise have. yeah, that's what I want, to give microsoft more power.

35 posted on 09/22/2011 7:26:07 AM PDT by zeugma (Those of us who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living.)
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To: LibWhacker

Some way will be found around this. Either hacking the lockout mechanism or rejection of it by the hardware makers. And yes, I built a dual boot system this year (not that that matters).


36 posted on 09/22/2011 7:26:11 AM PDT by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
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To: Texas Fossil

I started with Mandrake in about 1999 and stayed with it through Mandriva’s end. Switched to SUSE on the main machines then. Demo-ed many other distros for a day or two along the way. Interesting you mention XFCE as I just switched to it on an older Pentium 4M laptop when KDE 4.7 proved a little too bloated, although 4.7 is very satisfactory on the newer desktops.


37 posted on 09/22/2011 9:32:15 AM PDT by steve86 (Acerbic by nature, not nurture (Could be worst in 40 years))
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To: 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
You can flash the BIOS now for firmware updates, why could you not do that later. Dell also sells machines without any OS now ready for Linux, and they sell machines with Linux. They are not going to give up that business sector.

I use dual boot machines now, because some piece of trash Windows apps don't like anything but a real booted copy of Windows.
38 posted on 09/22/2011 9:40:01 AM PDT by Dominick ("Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought." - JP II)
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To: Da Coyote
So very Microsoft. They really do not have any talent...never have. Gate’s legacy of sleazy business practices has long been successful in giving us junk. May he rest with dead Ted.

It's like dealing with Democrats. When they can't get people to like their ideas (always), they resort to trying to take away their alternatives.

39 posted on 09/22/2011 5:59:55 PM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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