PC vendors may not have to include a Secure Boot toggle with Windows
10, making it harder for users to install alternative operating
systems.
In Windows 8, Microsoft embraced a protocol known as
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (or UEFI) Secure Boot. UEFI is a
more modern replacement for the traditional BIOS that earlier PCs used
to start up, and Secure Boot is intended to lock out low-level malware
that might try to infect the boot process. PC vendors that wanted
“Designed for Windows” certification had to include UEFI Secure Boot on their machines.
The arrival of UEFI caused some anxiety in the Linux community
a few years ago, as it could have shut out alternative operating
systems that didn’t work with the new technology. But in the end,
Microsoft provided a workaround: PC vendors had to provide a way to turn
off UEFI secure boot (at least for x86-based machines), essentially letting users manually unlock the door and install whatever they wanted. Microsoft via Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/03/windows-10-to-make-the-secure-boot-alt-os-lock-out-a-reality/ According to Ars Technica, citing a slide from a Microsoft WinHEC
presentation last week, Microsoft may no longer require PC makers to
provide a toggle for UEFI Secure Boot in Windows 10. In other words, PC
vendors can decide to raise bigger barriers for alternative operating
systems in the name of security. (As with before, Windows 10 smartphones
cannot have secure boot disabled.)
Ars notes that Microsoft
hasn’t finalized the exact specs yet, so it’s possible that things could
change. Additionally, this requirement would only affect new PCs—not
older models upgrading to Windows 10. But given that the current Windows
secure boot mechanism isn’t attack-proof, it’s not surprising that Microsoft would look to lock things down further. Why this matters:
This move doesn’t completely shut out Linux distributions on
Windows-based machines. Larger distributions such as Ubuntu already
include their own tools to work with UEFI, and the Linux Foundation has been working with Microsoft
on a secure boot loader that works with independent distributions. But
dropping the option to turn off UEFI would create more work for creators
of alternative distros, and takes a little more control out of the
hands of users.
This story, "Windows 10's Secure Boot requirement could make installing Linux a big headache" was originally published by
PCWorld. Source
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