The LF's solution to the Win 8 secure boot problem

[viking60]

As reported before Microsoft has been putting pressure on the OEM's to reduce their hardwares functionality by forcing them to boot via a Microsoft security key.
Microsoft of course never thought that this could exclude other OS's - and that was never part of the plan of course... It is all about making Windows 8 more secure.

And that last aspect cannot be denied: There is good reason for MS to take care of the Windows 8 security - we cannot deny that Windows has struggled with security problems "forever".

So basically Linux does not need this but it can use it - but that Microsoft security key is kind of a problem considering the hostile climate between the two.

Now the Linux foundation has come up with a solution to the problem and it is basically like this:
They will buy a MS key and incorporate it in a boot loader that will be freely distributed and shut of the secure MS booting if you chose to boot into Linux. If yous shoul want to boot into Windows 8 by a mistake - that will work too.

This does eliminate the need of you having to scratch your head with your toes to turn the secure booting off. Kind of a pragmatic solution - that will work for everyone.

More here

[rolf]

Well, that sounds nice and all but I don't know what a key costs and whether MS could just change the price at will to make it impossible for this sort of end-run.

[viking60]

I think that was an ambition when this thing started.
But a lot has happened: Microsoft is not the dominant end-user IT company anymore. They are left behind by Apple.
The business user is Microsoft main customer these days and they are conservative. So they will simply not risk their IT infrastructure on an experiment like Windows 8.

Windows 8 is mainly an effort to compete with Apples iOS solutions and they are mainly about private consumers.

Microsoft cannot make a product for the private consumer and the business user without making to many compromises IMHO. The Laptop with a detachable screen (surface) that turns in to a tablet has a certain charm though and might accomplish the task if Windows 8 is really good at connecting with Linux servers (all servers).

But its infrastucture was really slaughtered by the critics:
Here is a really thorough review from the Verge.

The whole thing is honestly perplexing. If this device is not as good as (or better than) the best tablet, and not a complete alternative to a laptop — who is this for? What is it supposed to be?

The promise of the Surface was that it could deliver a best-in-class tablet experience, but then transform into the PC you needed when heavier lifting was required. Instead of putting down my tablet and picking up my laptop, I would just snap on my keyboard and get my work done. But that's not what the Surface offers, at least not in my experience. It does the job of a tablet and the job of a laptop half as well as other devices on the market, and it often makes that job harder, not easier. Instead of being a no-compromise device, it often feels like a more-compromise one.

And that is the key here; if these kind of products do not work then Windows 8 will be a fiasco. Many people like Windows 8 (nice pictures and no need to read), they want it to be good. And it is not bad either - just mediocre.

And that will get Microsoft nowhere. And thus the OEM's will not feel as obligated to implement the Microsoft forced upon secure booting. Maybe in a few years Microsoft will buy keys from Canonical...

[R_Head]

I saw the Win 8 Phone launch and to be honest I was not impressed. Same old junk like any other smart phone with a different screen.

Steve Ballmer as usual has this creepy look like an used car salesman. All was pretty much a mockery of Apple's Steve Job sales pitches. The used the same power words and even the so called actress fumble and forgot her lines. The Win 8 commercials looks like a dance musical but fails to sell the product to me; does not inform the consumer of what can do. They spent about 33% of their presentation on the Kids Corner feature that was ok but nothing to really brag about.

Motorola has the Atrix with a phone and a Dumb Terminal that allows you to use the phone like a netbook.

MS is a bit late on the cell phone arena and the Win 7 phone fiasco with screwed up updates left a lot of bad taste in people's mouth. Now they are pushing the Zune ecosystem and most or either have Amazon or iTunes or any other.

The only thing MS has that has a tight grip in the industry is the Office Product Suite. That is what people uses the most and second is the proprietary software that only runs on MS. We start to see the Gaming Industry gearing for Linux; others will follow.

If you have MS Stocks, I suggest to sell, this is the beginning of the end.

[dedanna1029]

The only thing MS has that has a tight grip in the industry is the Office Product Suite. That is what people uses the most

O rly. Remember, Microsoft lost the MS Word patent case, and had to remove infringing parts of the software, so it is nowhere near now, what it once was. Hell, MS doesn't even use .doc, .ppt, .xlb, .xlc, .xml, etc. any more - they are now using .docx, .pptx, etc. - it all has to have that "x" on it now. I don't know if you've seen it (of course, ZDNet isn't what it once was, either, but here it is:) but you can now "Examine the patent that made selling Microsoft Word a crime" (circa 2009; there may be a more updated version of this somewhere, but it's all I could come up with on a very tiring night on the fly). No one can convince me that Office is the be-all-end-all of office suites any more, certainly not since that case came up (she says as she's using LibreOffice, gloating at M$). I've had to use Office 2010 at school, and barf every time I have to do anything with it. Finding anything menu-wise is an effing huge chore (unlike previous versions) at skool.

Updated: Microsoft is barred from selling any Microsoft Word products that can open XML files (.xml, .docx and .docm), according to a U.S. District Court ruling in favor of i4i, a small Canadian company that sued the software giant for patent infringement.

...although I'm not 100% (can't recall when) this was updated.

If you have MS Stocks, I suggest to sell, this is the beginning of the end.

Oh, heck yeah, I never owned any, but if I did, I'm sure that if I sold right this minute, I'd be filthy rich in no time (and I'm not being sarcastic, either).
That is one case I've been glued to with both eyes, from the get-go. ^^ You know it had to hurt those bastards but good, and I can't help but love it.

[R_Head]

K...

Office has a good grip in the industry. I am not discussing that is better or not or patent infringement. All I am saying the industry most likely will have Office to do daily business. Other software (like in my job) is not MS made. We use Share Point and many other MS products but there is one MS product that will halt production and is Office. Here they eat Powerpoint, Word, Excel and Outlook like there is no end.