Apparently, Microsoft has draconian policies in its "Windows 8 Hardware Certification Requirements". It looks to mandate vendors to block other OSes from being installed on ARM devices.
Microsoft plans for the UEFI Secure Boot got some attention from people last year when it was pointed out that by forcing the use of Secure Boot, it would lock out third party OSes such as GNU / Linux out of the PCs entirely. The document states: "On non-ARM systems, it is required to implement the ability to disable the Secure Boot via firmware setup." It then goes on to say (on Page 116): "Disabling Secure MUST NOT be possible on ARM systems."
There's no reason why MS would implement such drastic lockdown for one CPU architecture but enabling it for another. Well, there is a reason if you look at it on a non-technical way but on the business side. MS wants to lock their consumer to Windows only OS.
Early September last year, when this issue went public, MS issued a statement rationalizing the Secure Boot features and excuses itself that Secure Boot is indeed part of the UEFI standard. Years past, we've seen Microsoft play well with others. Now, it seems like its the 90s all over again.
Source: Netbooknews
Microsoft Blocks Other OSes For Win8 Certification is a post from: Eee PC
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