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Ask Slashdot: Why Are There No True Dual-System Laptops Or Tablet Computers?

Posted by msmash on from the closer-look dept.

dryriver writes: This is not a question about dual-booting OSs -- having 2 or more different OSs installed on the same machine. Rather, imagine that I'm a business person or product engineer or management consultant with a Windows 10 laptop that has confidential client emails, word documents, financial spreadsheets, product CAD files or similar on it. Business stuff that needs to stay confidential per my employment contract or NDAs or any other agreement I may have signed. When I have to access the internet from an untrusted internet access point that somebody else controls -- free WiFi in a restaurant, cafe or airport lounge in a foreign country for example -- I do not want my main Win 10 OS, Intel/AMD laptop hardware or other software exposed to this untrusted internet connection at all. Rather, I want to use a 2nd and completely separate System On Chip or SOC inside my Laptop running Linux or Android to do my internet accessing. In other words, I want to be able to switch to a small 2nd standalone Android/Linux computer inside my Windows 10 laptop, so that I can do my emailing and internet browsing just about anywhere without any worries at all, because in that mode, only the small SOC hardware and its RAM is exposed to the internet, not any of the rest of my laptop or tablet. A hardware switch on the laptop casing would let me turn the 2nd SOC computer on when I need to use it, and it would take over the screen, trackpad and keyboard when used. But the SOC computer would have no physical connection at all to my main OS, BIOS, CPU, RAM, SSD, USB ports and so on. Does something like this exist at all (if so, I've never seen it...)? And if not, isn't this a major oversight? Wouldn't it be worth sticking a 200 Dollar Android or Linux SOC computer into a laptop computer if that enables you access internet anywhere, without any worries that your main OS and hardware can be compromised by 3rd parties while you do this?

6 of 378 comments (clear)

  1. just run the 2nd OS in a VM and call it a day by iggymanz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    real exploits of that situation are rare

    1. Re:just run the 2nd OS in a VM and call it a day by mysidia · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Run BOTH systems as VMs of a more secure system such as a Citrix or VMware Client Hypervisor or Qubes OS.

    2. Re:just run the 2nd OS in a VM and call it a day by hairyfeet · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not to mention there is a BIG issue with what he wants...how do you update it without putting it at risk? Who is gonna support it?

      You see I know how this really doesn't work because I actually have one that does almost exactly what he is suggesting and I use it for work...a EEE PC netbook. For those that do not know many of the EEE PC netbooks that came with windows have TWO start buttons, one boots into the main OS and one boots into a version of Splashtop...or at least it did before I upgraded to Windows 8.1. The problems with it were 1.- No software for the OS, which meant it was stuck with a really old version of Chromium and really old HTML based apps, 2.- No support so any vulnerabilities with the apps or the OS itself wouldn't get patched.

      Luckily for me I bought the AMD Brazos version that had no issues with 8Gb of RAM and VM support so in the end it was better to just upgrade to 8.1 and use a Linux VM when I needed a separate OS, as the VM can easily be updated or changed out if the distro dies, with these micro-OSes? They always end up out of date and poorly supported, they just aren't a great idea.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  2. Because.... by Luthair · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It would be complex, expensive, huge and stupid. Dual boot, encrypt both partitions.

    1. Re:Because.... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Most people would just buy a tablet and optional Bluetooth keyboard for this purpose.

      Integrating a second SoC into a laptop is actually more complex than you probably realize. For example, how are you going to do things like share the screen between the SoC and main GPU? Okay, you need an extra video switch... But the screen power and backlight are also controlled by the main laptop chipset, so you need to split that out and allow the SoC to access that functionality as well. Same for the keyboard, trackpad, USB ports, wifi, battery charging system, audio subsystem and amps...

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  3. Re:Dude... by twdorris · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You have a dog in this fight. You need to stop replying and start listening. Take the advice/comments you like and ignore the others. Your use case is simply too narrow to justify development. At some point you'll need to accept this and move on to the other (seeming reasonable, IMO) suggestions. For example, if you really have a big ol' 17" CAD laptop that you have to lug around, then an extra, thin, light weight tablet is *not* going to be noticeable to you...and given that no commercial application like what you're looking for has been maintained beyond initial release due to lack of interest as a previous commenter pointed out, you should probably start to acknowledge that no matter how good the idea might seem to you and your specific situation, it's doesn't apply to enough other people to justify it.

    And, BTW, referring to the extra IC as "little" and "small" over and over again isn't going to change the effort, complexity or market reality one bit. You're trying to trivialize the issue with verbal trickery. It's lame. Stop.