Windows Vista x64 To Require Signed Drivers

Anonymous Coward writes "With little fanfare, Microsoft just announced that the x64 version of Windows Vista will require all kernel-mode code to be digitally signed. This is very different than the current WHQL program, where the user ultimately decides how they want to handle unsigned drivers. Vista driver developers must obtain a Publisher Identity Certificate (PIC) from Microsoft. Microsoft says they won't charge for it, but they require that you have a Class 3 Commercial Software Publisher Certificate from Verisign. This costs $500 [EUR 412] per year, and as the name implies, is only available to commercial entities."

Comments

From the nail-in-the-coffin department...

[pdbogen]

All I can say is what's probably come to everyone else's mind: the banging sound of hammer against coffin.
This will certainly quiet complaints about Windows' crashing (since many crashes are related to poorly written drivers, WHQL or not), but how did whomever thought this would be a good idea completely forget about the serious compatbility issues that this will raise?

Ooh lovely

[JediTrainer]

While I applaud the idea of signed drivers and the like, this looks like a very clever way to shut out OSS developers. Heck - some of the smaller commercial outfits might even balk at having to spend that kind of money on the certificate.

What pains me is knowing full well that this really won't necessarily increase the quality of the drivers, though. So they're signed. So what? All this might do is delay upgrades, if anything.

STUPID

[Chanc_Gorkon]

Does Microsoft even know the amount of drivers that ARE NOT signed?? This is stupid and it won't prevent anything. Is Microsoft going to look over thousands of drivers just to make sure they don't cause anything bad so they can put thier little WHQL seal and sign the blasted thing? What's to prevent someone from creating a hack that gets around this? Nothing. Why even try to do something like this? At least give users the option to screw up the system.

You CANNOT do this in the production version

[kawika]

Read on, it says that the BCDEDIT option will be removed before final Vista code ships, perhaps as early as Vista RC1.

You're neglecting one important fact...

[jd]

Since only commercial vendors can be licensed, any garage developer (Messers Hewlett and Packard, for example) can build their own hardware but NOT be licensed to produce a driver for it. Only a pre-existing commercial vendor can do that, and most won't unless you pay them.

This not only means that you can't have third-party drivers, it ALSO means you can't have 1st party drivers from start-ups. It effectively prohibits anyone new from entering the hardware arena.

But there's more! Although Microsoft's license is "free", they aren't necessarily going to give a license to everyone. Thus, they can effectively ban technology they don't like. Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD is going to be the shortest battle on record, if all it will take is for Microsoft to prohibit rival systems running on "their" desktops.

There is a way round the problem, but it puts you at risk from the DMCA as (by definition) it is circumventing security technology. By having a hypervisor-like OS running at the lowest level, and then having Vista run on top of that, you can make any piece of physical hardware look like any other piece of hardware that you like. Nothing Vista can do about it, as it can't see the hardware directly, all it can see is the results of pushing data of one type in one direction, then pulling data of another type in the opposite direction.