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"Of course you know, this means WAR Gentlemen!" Microsoft makes its move.

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40hz:
Jail breaking only works in that key data is R/W enabled. Commit that to silicon and it becomes virtually impossible unless you can "wedge" around the boot sequence. And that introduces a whole new level of challenges. And there are dozens of tricks to prevent that too.

So it's not a question of what could be done. It's a matter of preventing a never ending battle to lock/unlock the boot sequence and OS.  We don't want to have to go there even if we, as a last resort, could.

Carol Haynes:
It will be great for small system builders like me because components won't be sold with these lockins. You just won't be able to install Windows 8.

Another thought - this is only going to apply to OEMs - does that mean MS will stop selling OEM copies to smaller builders and home builders? What about home builders that want to upgrade an existing machine to a new OS?

Is the OEM build going to be completely different - or is that way it will only be restricted to ARM devices? If it is only restricted to ARM devices does it really make much difference since legacy Windows apps are not going to work anyway?

40hz:
gHacks recently did a short editorial piece entitled: What might a post-Windows world look like?

There was one interesting observation made:


Windows 8 is a big gamble though and if it fails then Microsoft will either have to backtrack with Windows 9, pull an immensely impressive rabbit out of their hat or face the consequences of poor decision-making.
--- End quote ---

I think this hits a very important point.

Microsoft is going in a radically different direction with their upcoming Windows 8. In many respects, the underlying message is very similar to the "Father knows best" attitude they took with Vista.

And Microsoft cannot afford another Vista debacle.

So now I'm more certain than ever that what we are seeing is an attempt on Microsoft's part to avoid that  risk by force-shifting the previously open hardware platform to a proprietary model like Apple's.

I was talking to a Mac-using client last week while attempting to sort out one of those "OSX things" I get every so often. She's owns a five person totally Mac-based company. I had asked this client if she really liked Apple and the Mac operating system all that much. My client responded it wasn't so much a matter of 'liking' Apple as it was reaching "an accommodation" with it. She said she was "generally ok" with how her Macs worked most times. But even if she weren't happy, she'd have to live with it, because she had tens of thousands invested in the Mac platform and related software. She went on to say it usually worked well enough for what she needed it for - and it wasn't like the software would run on anything else.

I think her answer has a lot of bearing on where Microsoft is attempting to go with Secure Boot. In order for Microsoft to minimize its risk, generally available open platform computing has to go away. And the only way it can be made to go away is if Microsoft can use its market share to get hardware manufacturers to 'voluntarily' abandon open hardware and queue up to produce Ballmer's walled-garden.

And Microsoft will need to make this happen while they're still controlling 85-88% of the currently deployed desktops. Because the longer they wait, the less likely they will be able to force the shift in hardware.

If Microsoft succeeds, it also garners dividends because it effectively pulls the rug out from under Linux and open software. Without a readily available and affordable hardware platform to run on, Linux will become completely marginalized and either become a VCIW ('voice-crying-in-the-wilderness') OS at best - or gradually become extinct as the 'antique' hardware it runs on wears out.

And because the US economic forecast isn't looking too rosy (either near or long-term) I don't think we can expect much intervention on the part of US government. Because any action on their part would only risk losing one of the very few market segments where the United States still holds virtual dominance: personal computing operating systems.

Which only leaves the consumers to lead a push back.

And considering the widespread acceptance and commercial success of things like the iPhone, iPad, Kindle, and Nook - I don't think the average buyer is all that concerned about proprietary lock-in.

Remember the little Linux kid?



Wanna know how he's gonna get "educated" going forward if Microsoft and Apple have anything to say about it?




Time to educate the masses. Before it's unequivocally too late. :o

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Note: My apologies for the twit who disabled embedding and forces you to go to the YouTube site to see the THX1138 segment above. (Not that it's his media to begin with.) Brave new world indeed...

hulkbuster:
Their is one saying in my place that if a Monkey acts too smart ,he will end up with a stuck ball ( i mean testicle ) .
 Ms is trying its vested effort in monopolizing the market just when things looks promising for them.
No doubt that max pc users are windows but elemenating   competition from the market is not healthy.
Just quick with XP or WIN7 just dont support WIN 8 by not buying. . . . . .

p.s: Sorry for sounding crude but i think all of us can see what MS is trying to do with its subterfuge effo

Tuxman:
Apple has their own stuff, and a niche market.-Edvard (January 14, 2012, 03:15 PM)
--- End quote ---
The times of Apple being a niche company have been over for years now. But it is amazing that in threads like this there is always someone who says that Apple is not as bad as Microsoft. I thought bashing Microsoft is a relic from the 90s.

First, this is about ARM devices, like: Mobile phones. (Yes, and netbooks, maybe.) Compare an iPhone to Microsoft's "secure boot" plan and tell me the difference. Also, Microsoft made clear that there will not be "a force" to lock the system. I would say, let us wait for the first affected machines before following our instinct to blame Microsoft for the apocalypse. In these days of Google, Apple and Facebook, Microsoft is harmless. Get it.

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