Microsoft will force block UEFI boot on ARM devices

After the controversy generated by Microsoft's requirement to have the UEFI for Windows 8 startup, the company repeats history again, this time, prohibiting its partners who manufacture and assemble computers, from providing the option to disable the UEFI function on architectures ARM if you want to get the Quality certificate de Microsoft on your products.

At the beginning of December, the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) advised the Copyright Office that operating system vendors would use the UEFI (Unified Firmware Extensible Interface) secure boot system in an anti-virus manner. -competitive, colluding with allied hardware vendors to exclude alternative operating systems.

As Glyn Moody mentioned, Microsoft wasted no time modifying its Windows Hardware Certification requirements to prohibit most alternative operating systems on ARM processor-based devices that are released with Windows 8. The Free Software Foundation currently maintains a campaign against this.

The Certification Requirements define (on page 116) a “custom” secure boot mode, in which a physically present user can add signatures for alternate operating systems to the system signature database, allowing the system to boot those operating systems. But for ARM devices, custom mode is prohibited: “On ARM systems, it is prohibited to enable custom mode. Only the standard mode can be activated. " Users will also not have the option to simply disable Secure Boot, the way they would on non-ARM-based devices: "Disabling Secure Boot MUST NOT be possible on ARM systems." Between these two requirements, any ARM device that ships with the Windows 8 logo will never be able to run another operating system, unless it is signed with a pre-loaded key or a security flaw is found that allows users to pass the safe start.

While UEFI Secure Boot is designed to protect user security, these non-standard restrictions have nothing to do with security. For non-ARM-based systems, Microsoft requires that custom mode be enabled - an inconsistent demand if custom mode is a security threat. But the ARM market is different for Microsoft in three important ways:

Microsoft's allied hardware manufacturers are different on ARM. ARM is of interest to Microsoft for one primary reason: all mobile devices running the Windows Phone operating system are based on ARM. In contrast, Intel dominates the world of PCs. There, Microsoft's secure boot requirements allow users to add signatures in custom mode or disable secure boot entirely - they closely follow the recommendations of the UEFI forum, of which Intel is a founding member. Microsoft does not need to support legacy programs on the Windows versions of ARM. If Microsoft locks unsigned operating systems off of new PCs, it would risk annoying its own customers who prefer Windows XP or Windows 7 (or, hypothetically, Vista). But without this need to support legacy systems on ARM, Microsoft is eager to imprison users.

Microsoft does not control enough of the market in mobile devices to raise concerns of monopoly abuse. While Microsoft does not have the monopoly on PCs that it had in 1998, when it was tried for monopolistic violations, it still controls about 90% of the market for PC operating systems - this is enough to make them concerned that by banning operating systems that Don't be Windows from Windows 8 computers the controllers come knocking on your door. But for now it could use its anti-competitive behavior on ARM devices.

Source: Technocapsules