Microsoft locks down ARM devices: Windows 8 ARM devices will be locked

MSFT-is-basically,-well,-evil

Do you enjoy dual or even triple booting your computer devices? Fancy having more than a single OS on your mobile phone? Well, you might have to give up on any dreams of using multiple operating systems on any ARM-based device that is shipping with Windows 8 as its default operating system.

According to a report by XDA Developers, Microsoft introduced a clause in the Windows 8 Hardware Certification Requirements that specifically forbids the enabling of custom mode in the ARM's UEFI boot. The certification states that “on an ARM system, it is forbidden to enable Custom Mode. Only Standard Mode may be enable. Disabling Secure [Boot] MUST NOT be possible on ARM systems.”

The above statement basically means that you can forget about using any custom boot, which is used to enable alternatives signatures, which, in turn, are used to add different operating systems, or even different flavors (read: Linux Distros) of the same operating system. There are tons of ARM-based devices coming out this year, many of which are tablets, touchscreen PCs and smartphones running Windows 8. So, it seems that all the initial excitement felt by the developer community when Microsoft announced its support for ARM-based devices might have been premature.

Is there any hope of bypassing Microsoft's latest attempt to hinder user freedom?

Well there is indeed a small ray of sunshine. Private developer groups, hackers, and modding enthusiasts are hard at work, figuring out how to get around the secure boot mode issue. Meanwhile, if dual booting is a major concern, it may be a good idea to avoid ARM-based devices that run on Windows 8, as booting Linux, Android, Solaris, Windows 7, and its older siblings might not be possible. It seems like Microsoft is trying to create a closed-off development and user environment, just like Apple did with its platform, which, in all honesty, seems like a pretty bad move.

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Without a doubt the Galaxy S4 is one of the major Android smartphone launches of 2013 and so far it looks like Samsung is going to sell millions of these devices. However the Galaxy S4…

Comments

Noah

Thanks for sharing this, it looks very interesting!

What are your first impression from using it? Does it install smoothly?

Mini-USB cable should be provided indeed, although they advise to use an adaptor instead, since the power that can be drawn from an USB is limited. This isn’t included, but that isn’t really an issue given the price tag, I’d definitely order one.

Did you encouter any problem by using the USB power only? Or did you use a power adaptor?

Did you really receive an SD card in the box? Because it’s specifically said that “No SD card is provided with the board”. So I wouldn’t take it for granted, maybe to double-check with the supplier but I doubt it.
- Ed
  
  The article isn’t actually implying that an SD card is included with the Beagle. I thought it did initially, but what it’s actually saying is that “You need to buy an SD card to make the $35 Pi work, whereas you don’t need to to make the $45 Beagle work”. It’s a justification of the higher price, if you like.
alSeen

I don’t think it comes with a microsd card. It comes with Linux installed, but I’m assuming that’s embedded, not on a removable chip.
- http://www.garysims.co.uk garysims
  
  It doesn’t come with a microSD card, but it does come with a microSD card reader plus the 2GB of on-board flash.
  
  As I say in the article, “…2GB of on-board flash and a microSD card reader. …the BeagleBone Black comes preloaded with Angstrom Linux allowing the microSD slot to be used for additional storage”
http://www.facebook.com/ThatDjKiDD Orange Kidd

Where are they selling for $45?
- http://www.garysims.co.uk garysims
  
  don;t confuse the “BeagleBone” with the “BeagleBone Black” they are different. The Black edition isn’t shipping in volume but the BeagleBone.org website has a list of places to buy. So far they are all saying $45.