Headline FeedsLinuxInsider Talkback
|
|
Re: Windows 8 Secure Boot - or How Microsoft Is Riling Up the Linux Masses
Posted by: Katherine Noyes 2012-01-23 07:48:57
See Full Story
What a difference a week makes. It was just the other day that Linux bloggers were celebrating the news from researcher Net Applications that desktop Linux had surged in popularity in recent months. Now, the mood in the blogosphere has plummeted once again as a result of the latest developments on the Windows 8 front. Secure Boot, that is -- a topic astute readers may remember from last fall but that lately seems to have taken a turn for the worse.
Microsoft is just TOO cute for words!
Posted by: kibert 2012-01-23 17:27:21 In reply to: Katherine Noyes
Let’s see if, together, we can figure out what’s going on here.
1. Microsoft has NOT announced anything remotely resembling a crystal-clear definition of a PC-based Windows 8; what they have teased you with is a somewhat murky description of a version which is optimized for ARM-based hardware (by the way, when any statements of current state-of-affairs are made, I’m relying on the big, splashy-headlines-which everyone-knows-about type of information. All you folks who read every last piece of 2-point-type offal from Redmond, save your time and blood pressure. Just tune out. NO one needs or cares about what you (don’t really) know).
2. Microsoft, in their abyss of wisdom-lack, have decided that, in order to cut out all the slaps-in-the-face they get--and MONEY, too--continually from the FOSS types who buy really neat hardware, and then trash the Microsoft stuff so they can install software which really works, they (Microsoft) would fix things so one couldn’t do that any more. Pretty smart, huh? Pretty smart, huh, Microsoft OEMs who get stiffed by Microsoft when unhappy customers return something?
3. This means that Microsoft is going to come out with some mind-blowing hardware which one just HAS to HAVE, because everybody who’s anybody will have one (or two, or three) to prove how cool they are. OF COURSE, this implies that the operating system will work flawlessly, because no sane company would engineer this type of lock-in if the software were not absolutely perfect to begin with. Correct? I thought you’d agree.
There are only a few teensy problems with the above scenario(s).
The first is the fact that attention has been diverted from the fact that if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool winPC user, you don’t have a clue what to expect with win8-PC (neat trick, huh?).
The second is that Microsoft is locking THEMSELVES and their OEM partners out of all that revenue which the FOSS-types would throw at them to get one of these pieces of hardware (that’s assuming, of course, that it will be just oh, SOOO desirable), DESPITE the fact they’d immediately trash the trash on it.
The third is the hubris involved in thinking people will want one of these pieces of hardware to begin with.
The fourth point is the least subtle, and has the most potential for the most damage to Microsoft: of all the software creators in the world, Microsoft is legend, and the standard, as far as creating half-baked offerings which simply don’t work as they should. Of all the wares they’ve ever offered, this LOCKED-UP combination of hardware/software HAD BETTER WORK PERFECTLY FIRST TIME OUT OF THE CHUTE, or Microsoft can hang it up. Yessirreee, Microsoft; whoever is responsible for painting you into this corner should be up for a big, big raise.
Oh, and one more thing, Balmer/Gates: you sure stuck it to us un-American, commie, cancerous-code-writing FOSS types THIS time, didn’t you.
Great job. Best of luck to your shareholders.
1. Microsoft has NOT announced anything remotely resembling a crystal-clear definition of a PC-based Windows 8; what they have teased you with is a somewhat murky description of a version which is optimized for ARM-based hardware (by the way, when any statements of current state-of-affairs are made, I’m relying on the big, splashy-headlines-which everyone-knows-about type of information. All you folks who read every last piece of 2-point-type offal from Redmond, save your time and blood pressure. Just tune out. NO one needs or cares about what you (don’t really) know).
2. Microsoft, in their abyss of wisdom-lack, have decided that, in order to cut out all the slaps-in-the-face they get--and MONEY, too--continually from the FOSS types who buy really neat hardware, and then trash the Microsoft stuff so they can install software which really works, they (Microsoft) would fix things so one couldn’t do that any more. Pretty smart, huh? Pretty smart, huh, Microsoft OEMs who get stiffed by Microsoft when unhappy customers return something?
3. This means that Microsoft is going to come out with some mind-blowing hardware which one just HAS to HAVE, because everybody who’s anybody will have one (or two, or three) to prove how cool they are. OF COURSE, this implies that the operating system will work flawlessly, because no sane company would engineer this type of lock-in if the software were not absolutely perfect to begin with. Correct? I thought you’d agree.
There are only a few teensy problems with the above scenario(s).
The first is the fact that attention has been diverted from the fact that if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool winPC user, you don’t have a clue what to expect with win8-PC (neat trick, huh?).
The second is that Microsoft is locking THEMSELVES and their OEM partners out of all that revenue which the FOSS-types would throw at them to get one of these pieces of hardware (that’s assuming, of course, that it will be just oh, SOOO desirable), DESPITE the fact they’d immediately trash the trash on it.
The third is the hubris involved in thinking people will want one of these pieces of hardware to begin with.
The fourth point is the least subtle, and has the most potential for the most damage to Microsoft: of all the software creators in the world, Microsoft is legend, and the standard, as far as creating half-baked offerings which simply don’t work as they should. Of all the wares they’ve ever offered, this LOCKED-UP combination of hardware/software HAD BETTER WORK PERFECTLY FIRST TIME OUT OF THE CHUTE, or Microsoft can hang it up. Yessirreee, Microsoft; whoever is responsible for painting you into this corner should be up for a big, big raise.
Oh, and one more thing, Balmer/Gates: you sure stuck it to us un-American, commie, cancerous-code-writing FOSS types THIS time, didn’t you.
Great job. Best of luck to your shareholders.
