It definitely reeks of trying to keep non-Microsoft operating systems off the hardware. Of course I don’t like it. So I’m not exactly heartbroken that Windows 8 is Microsoft’s PCjr, and now Acer is looking to sell Android PCs. Not just tablets–PCs with Intel x86 CPUs in them.

The good thing is that now that Microsoft is in position to attempt this maneuver, other makers aren’t as inclined to go along. And attempting lock-in once you’re past your prime doesn’t work too well, as IBM learned with Microchannel.

It’s possible to do UEFI and Secure Boot in a way that doesn’t lock out other operating systems, and that’s definitely something that we need. Being able to securely boot non-Windows operating systems is beneficial as well. The threat is a little different in the Linux/Unix world, but they need to be able to keep unauthorized people from tampering with the boot files too.

So Microsoft is either trying to lock in a hardware monopoly, or they’re saying that Windows is so much less secure than other operating systems that it’s the only one that needs UEFI.

I’m pretty sure they aren’t saying the latter.