Windows 8: Not as unified as we thought?

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The kerfuffle over Windows 8 Secure Boot provokes two important observations.InfoWorld Tech Watch.
[See the full post at: Windows 8: Not as unified as we thought?]

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Woody, I left a comment at InfoWorld with details beyond what I’m posting here.

Yep, at least three distinct versions, each with its own hardware, security, signing, boot options and other characteristics. Toldya so all along.

Desktop = Professional. And unsigned OSes can be multi-booted with proper true administrator privileges.

ARM Version = Tablet Edition. Very limited due to hardware constraints. Not suitable for multi-booting. And a lot of Vendor Lock-in, just as today’s Tablets often have.

And in-between, the Wintel/ AMD x64/x86 version = Home Premium. With the Media Center and the Desktop as Metro Apps by default. Multi-boot with signed OSes only. But many Linux distros will qualify as signed.

All in all, not much different from today. Corporate IT already has to field a lot of calls about iPads, Androids, and Smartphones. This just adds two new wrinkles to the contorted mobile device landscape.

So where’s the kerfuffle?

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@RC –

HAH! You hit it right on the head. I see one of the ZDNet bloggers is now confidently predicting the end of the PC era. I wouldn’t go that far, but there’s a whole lotta writing on the wall.

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If I had a dollar for every time ZDNet has declared The Death Of The… (fill in the blank), I’d be able to visit you in Phuket every year.

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HA!

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