Leading PC makers confirm: no Windows 8 plot to lock out Linux

“That’s what I did yesterday, when I spoke with representatives
of the two largest PC makers in the world.

“In an e-mail exchange and a follow-up phone conversation, a
Dell spokesperson told me, ‘Dell has plans to make SecureBoot an
enable/disable option in BIOS setup.’ (That’s exactly what the FSF
is demanding.) Dell plans to move to the UEFI version that includes
Secure Boot in the Windows 8 timeframe, although the spokesperson
told me it’s far too soon to provide any further details about the
company’s plans for Windows 8 PCs.

“I also contacted HP’s PC division, where a spokesperson had to
scramble to find anyone within the organization who was even
familiar with the issue. Although engineers are busy working on
Windows 8 plans, product managers and senior executives are still
focused on building and selling the tens of millions of PCs that
will be sold with Windows 7 in the next year.”

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