# Don't like Windows 8? Tough



## DoubleHelix (Dec 10, 2004)

"Microsoft confirms that UEFI 'secure boot' might lock out Linux and older versions of Windows from new PCs"

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/...-older-versions-of-windows-from-new-pcs/14942


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

Seems to be primarily driven at OEM installs.......didn't see the BIOS mfg in there either.......but a good read, thanks, DH. Definitely something to keep in mind.


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## DoubleHelix (Dec 10, 2004)

Yes, it applies to OEMs, but that's what most people buy. It's not a BIOS any longer, valis. It's a UEFI.


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

yeah, yeah........In this case, I've always stated a rose by any other name is still a flower.

Or some such.


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## pyritechips (Jun 3, 2002)

Sounds sinister to me. I guess that, in the future, I will be building or buying a custom build and installing my own retail "older OS".


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## DaveBurnett (Nov 11, 2002)

I cannot see OEMs blocking it of their own bat - but I can see MS "offering them incentives" to do so - particularly for the corporate market.

Have MS employed ex-Apple marketing people


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

DaveBurnett said:


> I cannot see OEMs blocking it of their own bat - but I can see MS "offering them incentives" to do so - particularly for the corporate market.
> 
> Have MS employed ex-Apple marketing people


Nah, if it was Apple they would have told you they were using UEFI, only UEFI, and if you didn;t like it you should be damned to deepest, darkest depths of hell...

I do thinks its a problem that they are pointing the issue squarely at the OEMs, when its the chipset manufacturers who will ultimately decide what to make...


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## jp1203 (Jul 21, 2005)

This is probably more of a push for businesses to move on from XP. Consumers (apart from power users) rarely back down from the latest version of Windows. Heck, even I run 7 and Office 2010 on my desktop and laptop at home (and Server 2008 R2 and Office 2007 on my work PC).

At work, though, everything is still XP...even on the newest of machines. Drivers haven't been an issue (got XP on a Probook 4530s yesterday just fine), so a BIOS (okay, UEFI) lock is the only way to force it. Much of the reasoning is that 7 is vastly different from XP, and the time to figure out the logistics of deploying it is something we just don't have. Not to mention the learning curve to the end user (you wouldn't think it would be bad, but the shock of Office 2007 was definitely interesting!). This is probably the mindset of many larger networks who are clinging to XP. It's not really resisting the change, it's the need for man hours to implement it.


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## Ent (Apr 11, 2009)

I must admit, before I saw this article I thought that the FSF pushing for an open source BIOS was a waste of time and effort. Considering that people might actually do this kind of thing, I suddenly became a lot less sure.


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## dustyjay (Jan 24, 2003)

An update to this. http://go.infopackets.com/m20111005-03

Interesting


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