Windows 8 Tablets: Bootloader Locked
Unlike the up-and-coming Windows 8 PC’s and laptops, it appears the Windows 8 tablet bootloaders will be locked down, iPad style. According to the Software 
Freedom Law Center, you won’t be able to root, replace, or change the OS in any way. The UEFI secure bootloader system that will come standard on Microsoft tablets has, in the words of the above website, been used “anticompetitively, by colluding with hardware partners to exclude alternative operating systems.”
They also fear that with the lack of legacy software support for x86 apps that MS has jumped on the opportunity to create an exclusive, locked-down system.
In my opinion, this is sort of overblown. Upon researching the site, I have seen nothing about them jumping on Apple for the iPad, iPod, or iPhone, all of which are locked systems (and market leaders). I don’t see anything about them talking about Android manufacturers who attempt to lock down their systems (Galaxy Tab 10.1), and to put it simply MS isn’t in a position in the tablet market to dictate anything, especially with an OS that hasn’t been released on a set of devices that won’t even see the light of day until Q3/Q4 2012.
So, this is just silly.
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I hope this is silly meaningless BS.
I don’t want to read any more about how Winows sucks. I stayed away from WP for that reason.
I am looking for a new device in Q2 and might be willing to wait for W8 if I read a lot about how Great it is!
Do you get where I am coming from?
Peace
Actually there is nothing wrong locking bootloading. Can you install Samsung Android on HTC device or plain vanilla Android on iPad and so on. It is possible, but you have to either root the device or jailbreak. How many people who are buying Samsung Galaxy Tab want to install iOS on their or iPad owners want to load Android on their iPads, very few. It doesn’t matter. Why all this fuss about bootlocking windows devices from all corners of OSS pundits, when their beloved Android Tablets also fall into the same category? I just don’t understand double standards here.
While I would agree that I am not likely to alt boot android, my point is the same.
This was one of the only sites that I got my tech news from,(Mobility Site was another) before I bought android, I had a WinMo device. The tech writers turned me off to the upcoming WP7 release, and I did not buy WP.
This site seems to be pro Windows, so make me love it too.
The people who want to dual boot, are probably not getting their pre buy information here (no offence)
So if it is silly BS that may turn off a customer who does not want to do more advanced computing, then why reprint it? Why turn off a potential customer who might not know better that this is meaningless BS.
Don’t try to explain to me that it is a silly thing to worry about, just don’t reprint it.
Publish some more about how WP is more like WinMo than ever before, and reprint the awesome device review that will hook me back to Windows.
Otherwise I am just wasting my time visiting here and I should just embrace the eco system I reluctantly joined.
Thanks, Peace
Look for the news here to get to know more about Microsoft’s investment in building WP ecosystem.
I would encourage everyone to go look at the Software Freedom Law Center’s “People” page to see just who is behind this BS.
Oh look, Diane M. Peters, Legal counsel to the Mozilla Corporation and the Mozilla Foundation is a director.
And Mark Webbink (can that really be his last name? lol) RedHat’s first general counsel and later their deputy general counsel for intellectual property.
And don’t even get me started on their DotComunist CEO Eben Moglen.
Legacy apps are both a huge draw and the very bane of Windows. If they could come up with a solution much like Apple did when they transitioned to Intel from Power PC with a year or two of support and ultimately forcing people to move on, I think Windows would advance by leaps and bounds. The old and tired Registry needs to disappear. The only reason it exists at this point is for support of legacy apps.
As for the boot loader on tablets, that’s not that big of a deal IMO. On the ARM systems, I can understand why. If they have Bootloader lockdowns on Intel based tablets though, that would be interesting…