Secure Boot And Ms Windows 8

[Richard-BKK]

Secure-boot, with MS Windows 8 you need a mainboard or computer that supports secure-boot to be able to install MS Windows 8. It will therefore be much harder to use an illegal version of MS Windows, as you need a KEY for the mainboard and a SERIAL from Microsoft that match.

Not only does this make it much more difficult to use illegal versions of MS Windows (sure hackers will find a way around it...) it will also make it much more difficult to install alternative operating systems. Some manufacturers of mainboard already announced that they will make it possible to activate or de-activate Secure-Boot on their mainboards.

According to some insiders users of illegal copies of MS Windows will in the future need to relay for 100% on hackers to make updates available, as all updates from Microsoft will comes with a checksum for the Secure-Boot, Serial Number and Activation Code...

Also due to the extra cost of all this, Microsoft will not introduce a basic (cheaper) version of MS Windows...

Is this the moment many alternative operating systems have been waiting for? How many people will look for alternative operating systems if it nearly impossible to work seriously on a MS Windows computer

[hml367]

When does this start?

MSPain

[thaimite]

I have seen nothing about Windows 8 I like and this is just one more hassle that will drive people to the alternatives.

This sort of behaviour may be one step too far, and if not careful they could find them selves doing a Nokia and going from number 1 to a minor player in a few short months.

Apple and Linux are now very credible alternatives for most people and the computer population is starting to wake up

Edited June 18, 2012 by thaimite

[hml367]

I like Windows 8.

MSPain

[Tywais]

I have seen nothing about Windows 8 I like and this is just one more hassle that will drive people to the alternatives.

Unfortunately this new feature will make it more difficult to use alternative OSes such as Linux. It would even prevent Win7 or XP from running. From Linus Torvalds:

All Windows 8 licensed hardware will be shipping with secure boot enabled by default in their replacement for the BIOS, Unfied Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). So far, so good, who doesn’t want more security? The fly in the soup is that by default only Windows 8 will run on these systems, so no Linux, no BSD, heck, no Windows XP for that matter. Fedora Linux, Red Hat’s community distribution, has found a way: sign up with Microsoft, via Verisign to make their own Windows 8 system compatible UEFI secure boot key. A lot of Linux people hate this compromise. Linus Torvalds, the father of Linux, has another take: “I’m certainly not a huge UEFI fan, but at the same time I see why you might want to have signed bootup etc. And if it’s only $99 to get a key for Fedora, I don’t see what the huge deal is.”

ZDNet.com

[hml367]

I have seen nothing about Windows 8 I like and this is just one more hassle that will drive people to the alternatives.

Unfortunately this new feature will make it more difficult to use alternative OSes such as Linux. It would even prevent Win7 or XP from running. From Linus Torvalds:

All Windows 8 licensed hardware will be shipping with secure boot enabled by default in their replacement for the BIOS, Unfied Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). So far, so good, who doesn’t want more security? The fly in the soup is that by default only Windows 8 will run on these systems, so no Linux, no BSD, heck, no Windows XP for that matter. Fedora Linux, Red Hat’s community distribution, has found a way: sign up with Microsoft, via Verisign to make their own Windows 8 system compatible UEFI secure boot key. A lot of Linux people hate this compromise. Linus Torvalds, the father of Linux, has another take: “I’m certainly not a huge UEFI fan, but at the same time I see why you might want to have signed bootup etc. And if it’s only $99 to get a key for Fedora, I don’t see what the huge deal is.”

ZDNet.com

Does this mean it would be kind of like Apple products? Only there is the possibility that OEM may offer the option to have the key on the main board in the initial setup, with a way to change it back?

One thing it will surely do is give ammunition to the people that dislike MS.

MSPain

Edited June 18, 2012 by hml367

[thaimite]

I agree that UEFI is a long needed step forward to replace the aging BIOS, and that more security is a good thing, but there should be a way that a user who is physically at his computer can turn off boot security or add / remove allowed operating systems.

What happens if you want to boot from a CD, or restore that image of a previous system?

I can see the messages boards being filled with numerous complaints and questions. In addition, the more people who are able to create secure boot keys, the less secure it will become.

There is a good article here on the subject

[aarn]

So maybe it would be opportune to now make a bootable image of your system, grab the free Win 8 download preview, install (with the 320+ updates), and create a space/drive on your system to install it alongside Win 8 (although I don't think win8preview likes to be installed alongside xp or 7). That way at least you can have all these goodies at hand - before upgrading your comp. to a win8-dedicated machine. AA

[Richard-BKK]

What I'm missing in this thread is what people are going to do when they cannot use MS Windows 8 as they are used to do with operating systems as Windows 7, XP, 2000, 98 and 95.... With this operating systems hackers always found a way to penetrate the Microsoft protection, which made it possible to run MS Windows Update if it was an authentic version (giving you a good level of protection).

With MS Windows 8, it would be very unlikely that hackers find a way to compromise the 3 level (Boot Secure key, Serial key and Activation Code) for longer than 1 to 3 hours. Making a computer useless after the Microsoft OS, or upgrade finds it is installed on a computer which fails to comply to the basic security check-sum of MS Windows 8.

[Dork]

How will this work when running Win 8 as a virtual machine? I don't see how it can.

[thaimite]

I see today, that Ubuntu have released their plans for dealing with secure boot.

It seems complex with a number of options and fall backs. I hope it works, but either way I shall upgrade my motherboard soon to avoid the issue for a while, and hopefully it will all be sorted next time I want an upgrade