Reply #6: Microsoft, Red Hat Spar Over Secure Boot-loading Tech

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By Joab Jackson, IDG News

Is Microsoft using a next-generation computing boot-loading technology to lock out the use of Linux and other OSEs on certain computers? While Microsoft has denied malicious intent, one Red Hat developer maintains that this may be the case.

Microsoft is mandating the use of the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) secure boot-loading capability with Windows 8 in such a way that "the end user is no longer in control of their PC," charged Red Hat developer Matthew Garrett in a blog entry posted Friday.

Microsoft has claimed that this charge is based on a misunderstanding of the company's intentions. "At the end of the day, the customer is in control of their PC," said Microsoft program manager Tony Mangefeste in another blog posting from Microsoft.

The controversy took root on Tuesday, when Garrett pointed out in a blog posting that Microsoft-certified computers running Windows 8 may not be able to be loaded with copies of other OSes, such as Linux. Users could not install Linux as a second OS, or replace Windows with a copy of Linux, Garrett argued ...

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/240480/microsoft_red_hat_spar_over_secure_bootloading_tech.html