Microsoft is blocking the installation of Linux on its tablets. Free Technical Library News

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Microsoft is blocking the installation of Linux on its tablets

21.01.2012

Microsoft's special requirement almost completely excludes the possibility of installing third-party operating systems on ARM tablets, including Android, based on the Linux kernel.

Microsoft's requirements for manufacturers of ARM-based tablets that choose to install the Windows 8 operating system include a clause requiring them to use UEFI boot technology. It must be activated without the possibility of manual shutdown (transfer to Custom Mode). This requirement has an interesting consequence: it will significantly complicate the installation of third-party operating systems, writes Digital Trends.

According to Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live division, this measure is aimed at protecting users from unauthorized interference with the firmware - when a malicious application can change the boot algorithm and place malicious code in memory before the OS starts.
A feature of UEFI is that this technology does not allow running operating systems on the device that do not have digital signatures in the factory firmware. Thus, if the manufacturer adds a digital signature only to Windows 8, then only this operating system will run on the tablet.

If the user wants to install an operating system on the Linux kernel, he will have to manually intervene in the firmware to add the signature. This is a complex procedure that not many will be able to do. If the manufacturer adds additional signatures on its own, Microsoft

Microsoft is trying to reduce competitive pressure from ARM tablets running Google's Android operating system. Currently, ARM devices occupy almost the entire global tablet market, and the vast majority of them work on Android or iOS operating systems, with the almost complete absence of Windows OS on the market. It can be assumed that Microsoft introduced a restriction on digital signatures in UEFI to prevent vendors and users from installing alternative operating systems on tablets designed for Windows 8 and sold with its logo. It is noteworthy that claims from the antimonopoly authorities regarding the requirements of Microsoft are unlikely to appear, just for the reason that it is almost absent on the market.

The story of UEFI blocking at the request of Microsoft did not begin today. Back in September 2011, representatives of Linux distributors sounded the alarm due to the fact that running third-party operating systems on computers with this technology would be very difficult. Within a month, they prepared a document with recommendations on how to organize the boot process at the system level, and in December the corporation canceled the mandatory condition according to which UEFI technology could not be disabled. However, this only applied to devices with x86 processors.

Thus, buyers of a modern Windows 8 tablet with long battery life and a Metro interface will find themselves in the same position as iPad owners: they will only be able to use the pre-installed operating system.

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