Will Windows 8 PCs Lock Out Linux?

Overclockers.com · 09-23-11, 02:25 AM

Quote:

There is a current Windows 8 story that is making its way around the web (ZDNet, TechPowerUp, and Extremetech), that claims that new Windows 8 PCs will be able to “lock out” any other OS, such as Linux. Obviously, this has many people up in arms about Microsoft’s new and upcoming OS, but is this information accurate?

... Return to article to continue reading.

turbohans · 09-23-11, 03:40 AM

I see them being able to prevent Linux from being installed on the same drive as something that could certainly happen. However that will not be possible in my opinion with separate drives.

David · 09-23-11, 04:58 AM

Isn't the UEFI done in firmware? So is it not a per-PC setting not a per-HDD setting?

David · 09-23-11, 08:02 AM

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2...with-uefi.aspx

Microsoft have responded, which amounts pretty much to 'it's up to the OEM'.

Ben333 · 09-23-11, 08:54 AM

I think having the product key in firmware is going to make them less money... Now nobody will accidentally buy another copy of windows to clean up their machine when they lose / don't receive a recovery CD. Although... I admit to often using old XP COAs on new machines

EarthDog · 09-23-11, 08:59 AM

People do that? And you think this is a significant enough part of there revenue stream to mention it?

arcanise · 09-23-11, 09:02 AM

i do not see how its possible to prevent another OS being installed, if its on the HDD we already have tools to kill that. not to mention we can easily go to newegg and get a HDD that was never touched by windows. and good luck getting MOBO manufacturers to play this game.

EarthDog · 09-23-11, 09:43 AM

Why would mobo mfg care considering it has nothing to do with them?

EDIT: Forget it, because its loaded into the UEFI...

Still, they hardly have a choice to boycott the most widely used OS in the word on their boards.

arcanise · 09-23-11, 09:45 AM

i just dont see how this could be a secure way of preventing linux installations

EarthDog · 09-23-11, 09:55 AM

Me either considering the boot selection screen (which OS0 is not taken from the bios but created on a hard drive...unless that is where the bios looks? if thats true, would a rename help? I have no experience whatsoever with linux outside of some boot/utility disks if you dual boot linux and windows can it even show up on that screen?

masterofnocrack · 09-23-11, 10:14 AM

finally no linux.linux is a pest its got to be exterminated.hope this comes to some other non oem mobos too

masterofnocrack · 09-23-11, 10:16 AM

you do mean you need ms signed keys in the mobo bios for it to work.like how graphics cards need signed keys from ati to work on catalyst.so then the bios will not detect/boot from linux\os that has no ms keys.finally oh yeah

David · 09-23-11, 03:13 PM

I know, right! Gosh, thankfully we'll be able to do away with all competition in the operating system market and get rid of that pesky personal choice crap that makes my life *hell*.

WARNING: Above message may contain sarcasm.

bypolar1 · 09-23-11, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David

I know, right! Gosh, thankfully we'll be able to do away with all competition in the operating system market and get rid of that pesky personal choice crap that makes my life *hell*.

WARNING: Above message may contain sarcasm.

Hate to be the pessimist but the general public makes all of are decisions now,based on market trends.

Quote:

n September, ahead of Windows 7's release, Windows had 92.77 percent of the market, compared to 5.12 percent for the Mac.

We can fool ourselfs into thinking we have choices but they are few and far between.

EarthDog · 09-23-11, 03:30 PM

But we do have choices. This potentially limits then even more.

johan851 · 09-23-11, 07:17 PM

This sounds more like something Apple would love to do if it could. In general, I think it would hurt Microsoft to add this 'feature' more than it would help them. And if it's up to the OEM, I doubt very few would choose to do it unless they have some strong incentive. It's business - alienating 1% of your user base is worse than alienating 0% - and the extra hassle of supporting an additional feature is costly.

SMOKEU · 09-23-11, 11:18 PM

It sounds exactly like what Apple does on their computers. Even if this "lock out" does come to fruition, there's nothing stopping people from running Linux or OSX on a VM from within Windows 8.

thideras · 09-23-11, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMOKEU

there's nothing stopping people from running Linux or OSX on a VM from within Windows 8.

Except there are a few of us that wouldn't run Windows at all and this solution becomes a non-solution.

Ben333 · 09-24-11, 08:38 AM

I think this will ONLY make it harder to pirate windows. Installing linux and OS X should still be possible.

EarthDog · 09-24-11, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ben333

I think this will ONLY make it harder to pirate windows. Installing linux and OS X should still be possible.

OK Ill bite... why do you feel this way?

09-23-11, 03:40 AM	#2
turbohans Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: n43, w86	I see them being able to prevent Linux from being installed on the same drive as something that could certainly happen. However that will not be possible in my opinion with separate drives. __________________ This message was printed on 100% recycled electrons i7-2600k@4.6ghz(1.380v), 16gb Corsair DDR3, Asus P8P67 Deluxe, gtx465, 3x500gb WD's "It does not take knowledge to be genius, it takes a different way of thinking..." And if you think about it too hard you will wonder why you did. Build your computer Overclock it! find a cure. Don't like looking out dirty windows? Live life without walls; Learn how to build an operating system F@H - ExtremeOC
	QUOTE Thanks

09-23-11, 04:58 AM	#3
David Forums Super Moderator Overclockers.com Lead Editor Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Hiding from Americans and making pretty colours in a drybox in St Andrews	Isn't the UEFI done in firmware? So is it not a per-PC setting not a per-HDD setting? __________________ David J. Nelson MChem(Edin) PhD(Strath) AMRSC [Academia Profile] OC Forums Super Moderator // Overclockers.com Editor The Workhorse: [Lenovo W510] Intel Core i7-720QM / 8 GB DDR3 / nVidia Quadro FX880M / Crucial M4 256 GB SSD / Windows 7 The HTPC/Server: AMD Phenom X4 9650 / 6 GB DDR2 / nVidia 8300 / 5 TB of HDDs / Antec Solo II Case / Windows 7 The Gaming Rig: AMD Llano A6-3650 / 4 GB DDR3 / nVidia GTX260 / 2x 500 GB HDD in RAID0 / Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 Case / Windows 7 The Benchmarking Setup: Various LGA775 chips / Asus Rampage Formula / 2 GB OCZ 1066 MHz DDR2 / nVidia Quadro NVS 285 / 320 GB HDD / Windows 7 My research fellowship is eating all my time, so I may be slow to reply to emails and private messages.
	QUOTE Thanks

09-23-11, 08:02 AM	#4
David Forums Super Moderator Overclockers.com Lead Editor Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Hiding from Americans and making pretty colours in a drybox in St Andrews	http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2...with-uefi.aspx Microsoft have responded, which amounts pretty much to 'it's up to the OEM'. __________________ David J. Nelson MChem(Edin) PhD(Strath) AMRSC [Academia Profile] OC Forums Super Moderator // Overclockers.com Editor The Workhorse: [Lenovo W510] Intel Core i7-720QM / 8 GB DDR3 / nVidia Quadro FX880M / Crucial M4 256 GB SSD / Windows 7 The HTPC/Server: AMD Phenom X4 9650 / 6 GB DDR2 / nVidia 8300 / 5 TB of HDDs / Antec Solo II Case / Windows 7 The Gaming Rig: AMD Llano A6-3650 / 4 GB DDR3 / nVidia GTX260 / 2x 500 GB HDD in RAID0 / Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 Case / Windows 7 The Benchmarking Setup: Various LGA775 chips / Asus Rampage Formula / 2 GB OCZ 1066 MHz DDR2 / nVidia Quadro NVS 285 / 320 GB HDD / Windows 7 My research fellowship is eating all my time, so I may be slow to reply to emails and private messages.
	QUOTE Thanks

09-23-11, 08:54 AM	#5
Ben333 Folding for Team 32! Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: New Hampshire	I think having the product key in firmware is going to make them less money... Now nobody will accidentally buy another copy of windows to clean up their machine when they lose / don't receive a recovery CD. Although... I admit to often using old XP COAs on new machines
	QUOTE Thanks

09-23-11, 08:59 AM	#6
EarthDog Senior PITA Member Overclockers.com Editor Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Stuck in Maryland...	People do that? And you think this is a significant enough part of there revenue stream to mention it? __________________ Should I R0 my SSD? / SandyBridge / Ivybridge Overclocking Guide / AMD Overclocking Guide / Power Supply Guide SSD Reliability/Write Endurance / JOIN THE BENCHING TEAM! / Bulldozer Overclocking Guide / Forum Etiquette Want to see your writing featured on the overclockers.com Front Page? PM me, I can help! "We have more information and more ways of accessing it than ever, yet seem increasingly less inclined to do so."- Michael Wilbon
	QUOTE Thanks

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09-23-11, 09:02 AM	#7
arcanise Join Date: Apr 2010	i do not see how its possible to prevent another OS being installed, if its on the HDD we already have tools to kill that. not to mention we can easily go to newegg and get a HDD that was never touched by windows. and good luck getting MOBO manufacturers to play this game. __________________ Join the OCF Starcraft Clan mobo ASUS P6X58D Premium CPU Intel i7 965 bloomfield xe OC'd 3.6Ghz ram OCZ gold edition 12GB 1600 Mhz DDR3 video GTX 465 OC'd 770//1540//1700 CSM X2!!! HDD's 1X kingston 60GB SSD HDD's 1X velociraptor 600GB 10,000 RPM HDD's 1X WD 1TB 7200 RPM Case Cooler master sniper
	QUOTE Thanks

09-23-11, 09:43 AM	#8
EarthDog Senior PITA Member Overclockers.com Editor Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Stuck in Maryland...	Why would mobo mfg care considering it has nothing to do with them? EDIT: Forget it, because its loaded into the UEFI... Still, they hardly have a choice to boycott the most widely used OS in the word on their boards. __________________ Should I R0 my SSD? / SandyBridge / Ivybridge Overclocking Guide / AMD Overclocking Guide / Power Supply Guide SSD Reliability/Write Endurance / JOIN THE BENCHING TEAM! / Bulldozer Overclocking Guide / Forum Etiquette Want to see your writing featured on the overclockers.com Front Page? PM me, I can help! "We have more information and more ways of accessing it than ever, yet seem increasingly less inclined to do so."- Michael Wilbon
	QUOTE Thanks

09-23-11, 09:45 AM	#9
arcanise Join Date: Apr 2010	i just dont see how this could be a secure way of preventing linux installations __________________ Join the OCF Starcraft Clan mobo ASUS P6X58D Premium CPU Intel i7 965 bloomfield xe OC'd 3.6Ghz ram OCZ gold edition 12GB 1600 Mhz DDR3 video GTX 465 OC'd 770//1540//1700 CSM X2!!! HDD's 1X kingston 60GB SSD HDD's 1X velociraptor 600GB 10,000 RPM HDD's 1X WD 1TB 7200 RPM Case Cooler master sniper
	QUOTE Thanks

09-23-11, 09:55 AM	#10
EarthDog Senior PITA Member Overclockers.com Editor Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Stuck in Maryland...	Me either considering the boot selection screen (which OS0 is not taken from the bios but created on a hard drive...unless that is where the bios looks? if thats true, would a rename help? I have no experience whatsoever with linux outside of some boot/utility disks if you dual boot linux and windows can it even show up on that screen? __________________ Should I R0 my SSD? / SandyBridge / Ivybridge Overclocking Guide / AMD Overclocking Guide / Power Supply Guide SSD Reliability/Write Endurance / JOIN THE BENCHING TEAM! / Bulldozer Overclocking Guide / Forum Etiquette Want to see your writing featured on the overclockers.com Front Page? PM me, I can help! "We have more information and more ways of accessing it than ever, yet seem increasingly less inclined to do so."- Michael Wilbon
	QUOTE Thanks

09-23-11, 10:14 AM	#11
masterofnocrack Registered Join Date: May 2011	finally no linux.linux is a pest its got to be exterminated.hope this comes to some other non oem mobos too
	QUOTE Thanks

09-23-11, 10:16 AM	#12
masterofnocrack Registered Join Date: May 2011	you do mean you need ms signed keys in the mobo bios for it to work.like how graphics cards need signed keys from ati to work on catalyst.so then the bios will not detect/boot from linux\os that has no ms keys.finally oh yeah
	QUOTE Thanks

09-23-11, 03:13 PM	#13
David Forums Super Moderator Overclockers.com Lead Editor Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Hiding from Americans and making pretty colours in a drybox in St Andrews	I know, right! Gosh, thankfully we'll be able to do away with all competition in the operating system market and get rid of that pesky personal choice crap that makes my life hell. WARNING: Above message may contain sarcasm. __________________ David J. Nelson MChem(Edin) PhD(Strath) AMRSC [Academia Profile] OC Forums Super Moderator // Overclockers.com Editor The Workhorse: [Lenovo W510] Intel Core i7-720QM / 8 GB DDR3 / nVidia Quadro FX880M / Crucial M4 256 GB SSD / Windows 7 The HTPC/Server: AMD Phenom X4 9650 / 6 GB DDR2 / nVidia 8300 / 5 TB of HDDs / Antec Solo II Case / Windows 7 The Gaming Rig: AMD Llano A6-3650 / 4 GB DDR3 / nVidia GTX260 / 2x 500 GB HDD in RAID0 / Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 Case / Windows 7 The Benchmarking Setup: Various LGA775 chips / Asus Rampage Formula / 2 GB OCZ 1066 MHz DDR2 / nVidia Quadro NVS 285 / 320 GB HDD / Windows 7 My research fellowship is eating all my time, so I may be slow to reply to emails and private messages.
	QUOTE Thanks

09-23-11, 03:30 PM	#15
EarthDog Senior PITA Member Overclockers.com Editor Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Stuck in Maryland...	But we do have choices. This potentially limits then even more. __________________ Should I R0 my SSD? / SandyBridge / Ivybridge Overclocking Guide / AMD Overclocking Guide / Power Supply Guide SSD Reliability/Write Endurance / JOIN THE BENCHING TEAM! / Bulldozer Overclocking Guide / Forum Etiquette Want to see your writing featured on the overclockers.com Front Page? PM me, I can help! "We have more information and more ways of accessing it than ever, yet seem increasingly less inclined to do so."- Michael Wilbon
	QUOTE Thanks

09-23-11, 07:17 PM	#16
johan851 Insatiably Malcontent Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Seattle, WA	This sounds more like something Apple would love to do if it could. In general, I think it would hurt Microsoft to add this 'feature' more than it would help them. And if it's up to the OEM, I doubt very few would choose to do it unless they have some strong incentive. It's business - alienating 1% of your user base is worse than alienating 0% - and the extra hassle of supporting an additional feature is costly. __________________ ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 \| 2500K @ 4.6GHz \| 2x4GB Samsung DDR3 \| GTX460 768mb 120GB Crucial M4 \| 2x 2TB Samsung F4 \| Seasonic S12 600w AV-710 --> y2 DAC --> Custom M^3 --> Custom LM3875 ChipAmp --> Modula MTs Dual Dell 2007WFP \| Watercooled
	QUOTE Thanks

09-23-11, 11:18 PM	#17
SMOKEU Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: NZ	It sounds exactly like what Apple does on their computers. Even if this "lock out" does come to fruition, there's nothing stopping people from running Linux or OSX on a VM from within Windows 8. __________________ MY RIG: i7 2600K @ 4.6GHz Asus P8P67 Pro B3 GSkill Ripjaws 16GB (2X 8GB) 1866MHz CL10 Sapphire 6950 2GB shader unlock 920/1400MHz @ 1.2V Corsair Force 3 120GB SSD OWC Mercury Pro 60GB SSD WD 2TB X2, 1.5TB, 1TB, Seagate 500GB 24" Viewsonic LED 1080p Logitech Z623 speakers
	QUOTE Thanks

09-24-11, 08:38 AM	#19
Ben333 Folding for Team 32! Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: New Hampshire	I think this will ONLY make it harder to pirate windows. Installing linux and OS X should still be possible.
	QUOTE Thanks

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