Microsoft: Make Linux-Proof Computers, or else

Brad R Thursday 06 October 2011 - 12:23:23  

Thanks to our friends the Millers for the heads-up on this. Microsoft is once again trying to force manufacturers to make computers that won't run Linux, all in the name of security, of course:

PC users who run Windows and Linux on the same machine will want to do some research before purchasing a Windows 8 computer. That's because systems with a "Designed for Windows 8" logo must ship with UEFI secure booting enabled--a move that prevents booting operating systems that aren't signed by a trusted Certificate Authority.

Operating systems like Linux, that is...or any other open-source system.

This isn't the first time Microsoft has tried this gambit. Back in 2002 they were pushing "Palladium". A year later it was NGSCB, for "Next Generation Secure Computing Base." Then it was TPM ("Trusted Platform Module"), and last year, "Trustworthy Computing."

All of this is to help Microsoft cope with two uncomfortable realities:

1. After twenty years of trying, Microsoft still seems constitutionally incapable of writing secure software. Other operating systems run securely on standard PCs without any fuss, but Microsoft claims they need special hardware to do this. Perhaps this is because Microsoft has explicitly written many security flaws into their software. (Prediction: UEFI or no, Windows 8 will be compromised. Frequently.)

2. After twenty years of market domination, Microsoft is starting to lose market share. Even with 95% of the desktop market, billions of dollars in the bank, and manufacturers salivating to do their bidding, users are turning away from Microsoft to safer, cheaper, more reliable alternatives, like Linux, Unix, or Mac. And Microsoft hasn't been able to win them back with a better product...because they can't make a better product.

Let's hope that Ars Technica is right, and vendors will make UEFI a customer-selectable setting, so you can turn it off and install Linux. Until you can verify with the vendor that UEFI secure boot can be disabled, do not buy any PC carrying the "designed for Windows 8" logo. Because that PC is really designed to lock you into Windows.
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