The option to easily disable uefi secureboot _should_ be there on every and each motherboard (desktop, server or laptop)... If manufacturers would just say disabling will be there always, this whole issue would just go away.
Here you go: an assurance *by Microsoft* that the option to disable secure boot will always be there on non ARM system.
MANDATORY. On non-ARM systems, the platform MUST implement the ability for a physically present user to select between two Secure Boot modes in firmware setup: "Custom" and "Standard". Custom Mode allows for more flexibility as specified in the following:
a) It shall be possible for a physically present user to use the Custom Mode firmware setup option to modify the contents of the Secure Boot signature databases and the PK. This may be implemented by simply providing the option to clear all Secure Boot databases (PK, KEK, db, dbx) which will put the system into setup mode.
b) If the user ends up deleting the PK then, upon exiting the Custom Mode firmware setup, the system will be operating in Setup Mode with SecureBoot turned off.
c) The firmware setup shall indicate if Secure Boot is turned on, and if it is operated in Standard or Custom Mode. The firmware setup must provide an option to return from Custom to Standard Mode which restores the factory defaults.
On an ARM system, it is forbidden to enable Custom Mode. Only Standard Mode may be enabled.
18. MANDATORY. Enable/Disable Secure Boot. On non-ARM systems, it is required to implement the ability to disable Secure Boot via firmware setup. A physically present user must be allowed to disable Secure Boot via firmware setup without possession of PKpriv. A Windows Server may also disable Secure Boot remotely using a strongly authenticated (preferably public-key based) out-of-band management connection, such as to a baseboard management controller or service processor. Programmatic disabling of Secure Boot either during Boot Services or after exiting EFI Boot Services MUST NOT be possible. Disabling Secure Boot must not be possible on ARM-systems.
This is where Apple is winning, all phones get OS updates for several years.
Except while they call it iOS 6 or iOS 5 on all devices, each device has only access to a subset of features. Microsoft is doing the same thing but calling one Windows Phone 7.8 and the other Windows Phone 8.
Today's event was for hardware and software developers. While some of the issues are related to consumers, they stressed that today's event was not about consumer features.
Yeah they were vague but it's pretty easy to predict the timeline. My prediction: Windows 8 will go RTM in July, retail in October along with the Surface, and Surface Pro will be released in January. Surface will start at $599 at 32GB and Surface Pro will start at $899.
He's probably referring to the lack of concrete details in terms of release date and pricing. Then again, Microsoft tends to release information early without notions of availability and price, as is the case with Windows 8... we know it's coming, we just don't know when and for how much.
Yeah, what you link sure would be a great tablet... but that doesn't exist yet either. Also it faces the same problem as Windows: most Android apps are compiled for ARM, so you'd need an ARM tablet for the Android side to be useful, but most drivers and software for Ubuntu is written for x86, so you'd need x86 for the ubuntu side (and no, you can't just cross compile everything, as there is some proprietary software for Linux like Matlab that is not distributed for ARM).
According to Microsoft, if it's running Windows 8 32 bit at least 1GB, and if it's running Windows 8 64 bit, at least 2 GB. I'd wager since they said there will be specs comparable to ultrabooks, that'll be closer to 4 GB.
Also: enjoy looking for ways to right-click in Windows 8 on the Pro.
You mean using touch? It's tap-hold, just like in Windows 7.
Please explain how it is *not.* Windows 8 is a superset of Windows 7. Windows RT maybe not, but arguing that Windows 8 is not a full desktop OS is arguing that Windows 7 is not a full desktop OS.
This means that all iPad apps work perfectly without keyboards.
Not really. All it means is that you have designers who try to shoehorn applications that are optimized for keyboard input, like word processing and spreadsheets, into a touch interface. Apple tried their best at a touch-based office suite, but it is very basic and falls extremely short of the capabilities of Office. On the Surface, you have writing for when writing makes sense, typing for when typing makes sense, and touch for when touch makes sense. Right input for the right task.
It's not as if Swype hadn't already solv ed the problem of typing fast on touch screens.
Part of the problem with typing on touch screens isn't just the speed, it's the tactile response, comfort, and the fact that the keyboard takes up half of your display. Swype hasn't solved any of this.
I think you missed the point where the Surface Pro has a full desktop operating system compatible with all your hardware, peripherals, and software. Yes I can plug a transformer prime into a dock, but then what do I have? A tablet OS with tablet software, and a keyboard. Plug a surface pro into a dock and you have full access to a desktop operating system with Office, Photoshop, Matlab, Autocad, Solidworks, or whatever software you use for your work.
Pricing, yes, is nothing but wild speculation. Battery we can logically speculate on however. The ARM model has a 31.5 W-h battery, larger than the iPad 1 and 2. Coupled with an ARM processor, no super hi-res screen, and Windows 8 (which is surprisingly very battery friendly, at least the x86 version on my laptop. We'll see how the Windows RT version does) and I'm optimistic about battery life. Being able to use only metro apps on the ARM version is a real boon to battery life.
After owning a tablet PC with a real pen digitizer I used all the time to take notes, I bought an iPad in the hopes of a lighter, thinner, longer lasting digital note taking device. I was sorely disappointed. I suspect you've never used real digital ink if you're complacent with the iPads extremely primitive pen input.
block out the Microsoft logos and it would be hard to tell the difference between that and an Apple page.
It's easy to tell the difference. Apple is still big on fake reflections, shadows, gradients, bevels, faux 3D effects like paper curling, point of view icons, etc. Metro eschews these elements in favor of bold colors, lots of white space, and simple flat iconography.
If that date slips, it backfires. The original iPad met delays in manufacturing and its date slipped. Same goes for Leopard, which was announced in June 2005 and was originally intended to ship at the end of 2006/early 2007 and slipped all the way to October 2007. The white iphone 4 was also delayed 9 months past its launch date.
And full specs.
At announcement Apple hides many of the specs like RAM, CPU specs, GPU, etc. for products like the iPad and iPhone unless they have something major to announce, like in the instance with the iPhone 4S camera, where they went into excruciating and unnecessary detail about CCDs and optics.
And of course Apple only announces a product when it's done, and ready to go to the shops.
Also untrue, as in the case of the white iPhone 4, which had unresolved manufacturing difficulties at the time of its announcement.
but without compromising as much. It's bulkier with the dock, but hey, you do get a self-supporting, full keyboard.
That's compromising just as much, but more in the laptop direction rather than the tablet direction. Plus for all that keyboard the OS is still a tablet OS, so you don't get the same software that really takes advantage of it as of Windows 8.
Then again, look at why previous Windows tablets didn't gain traction:
They were thick (check, Surface is thin)
They were heavy (check, Surface is light)
They were expensive (check, indications are at least the ARM version will be priced with the iPad)
The OS was not touch friendly (check, windows 8 is very touch friendly)
They were marketed directly to businesses (check, this tablet will be marketed toward consumers)
The streaming service I use allows for locally downloaded copies of the tracks, so when I'm in the car I just download an entire album and let it go. When I'm done with the drive, the album gets deleted.
From the quote, if something as simple as a pin password is "higher-protection" then let's just call this face unlock feature what it is: a pointless gimmick.
I've bought a couple computers in the past that don't have optical drives, and they all come with external drives to make up for it. Apple seems to be the only one who won't go that route.
Re:"I'm still waiting for my under $50 Macbook."
on
The $45 Windows Laptop
·
· Score: 3, Informative
I think that hasn't been true in a long time.
I'm not so sure. A couple years ago I bought an HP Envy 15 for $999 after rebates with 1600x900 display, 160GB ssd, extra battery, 4 GB RAM... I don't remember what the exact specs were for an equivalent Macbook Pro, but I did significant price comparison and the Macbook was over $2000 for lesser hardware in every regard. Just priced out a brand new Envy 15 comapred to the brand new Macbook pro, and here's what we get:
Macbook Pro 15
Display: 15.4" 1440 x 900
Processor" 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz) with 6MB L3 cache
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5
Storage: 500GB 5400-rpm hard drive
Memory: 4GB of 1600MHz DDR3
Height: 0.95 inch (2.41 cm)
Weight: 5.6 pounds
Battery Life: 7 Hours
Warranty: 1 year Price: $1800
So from my perspective, for $450 less (and this isn't even without ninja rebate magic like I pulled on my last Envy) I'm getting better graphics, more storage, more memory, better display, bigger display, longer battery life, longer warranty, and I'm also getting a decent built laptop with premium features like aluminum casing, slot load DVD, and backlit keyboard, and basic features not available on the macbook pro like HDMI port, display port, 3 USB ports, higher maximum memory (16gb as opposed to 8gb for the macbook pro... how is this a "pro" model again?)
If the Macbook Pro was really a premium model with premium build and premium specs, then yes, I'd be willing to spend more on it. But it just looks like more money for less value all around. You're really paying a premium for.16" of height, OSX, and the Apple branding as far as I can tell.
Slashdot Mirror
That's the same price as the comparable iPad.
they had already named a device the surface, now confusing the marketplace
The original surface is known by about .00001% of the population, and has been rebranded. Anyone confused by this probably isn't too bright.
The option to easily disable uefi secureboot _should_ be there on every and each motherboard (desktop, server or laptop)... If manufacturers would just say disabling will be there always, this whole issue would just go away.
Here you go: an assurance *by Microsoft* that the option to disable secure boot will always be there on non ARM system.
MANDATORY. On non-ARM systems, the platform MUST implement the ability for a physically present user to select between two Secure Boot modes in firmware setup: "Custom" and "Standard". Custom Mode allows for more flexibility as specified in the following:
a) It shall be possible for a physically present user to use the Custom Mode firmware setup option to modify the contents of the Secure Boot signature databases and the PK. This may be implemented by simply providing the option to clear all Secure Boot databases (PK, KEK, db, dbx) which will put the system into setup mode.
b) If the user ends up deleting the PK then, upon exiting the Custom Mode firmware setup, the system will be operating in Setup Mode with SecureBoot turned off.
c) The firmware setup shall indicate if Secure Boot is turned on, and if it is operated in Standard or Custom Mode. The firmware setup must provide an option to return from Custom to Standard Mode which restores the factory defaults. On an ARM system, it is forbidden to enable Custom Mode. Only Standard Mode may be enabled.
18. MANDATORY. Enable/Disable Secure Boot. On non-ARM systems, it is required to implement the ability to disable Secure Boot via firmware setup. A physically present user must be allowed to disable Secure Boot via firmware setup without possession of PKpriv. A Windows Server may also disable Secure Boot remotely using a strongly authenticated (preferably public-key based) out-of-band management connection, such as to a baseboard management controller or service processor. Programmatic disabling of Secure Boot either during Boot Services or after exiting EFI Boot Services MUST NOT be possible. Disabling Secure Boot must not be possible on ARM-systems.
Source: http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/D/F/ADF5BEDE-C0FB-4CC0-A3E1-B38093F50BA1/windows8-hardware-cert-requirements-system.pdf
This has been known for a while, so why won't the issue go away?
This is where Apple is winning, all phones get OS updates for several years.
Except while they call it iOS 6 or iOS 5 on all devices, each device has only access to a subset of features. Microsoft is doing the same thing but calling one Windows Phone 7.8 and the other Windows Phone 8.
Today's event was for hardware and software developers. While some of the issues are related to consumers, they stressed that today's event was not about consumer features.
Yeah they were vague but it's pretty easy to predict the timeline. My prediction: Windows 8 will go RTM in July, retail in October along with the Surface, and Surface Pro will be released in January. Surface will start at $599 at 32GB and Surface Pro will start at $899.
He's probably referring to the lack of concrete details in terms of release date and pricing. Then again, Microsoft tends to release information early without notions of availability and price, as is the case with Windows 8... we know it's coming, we just don't know when and for how much.
I guess I'm my own invisible mirror twin then?
Yeah, what you link sure would be a great tablet... but that doesn't exist yet either. Also it faces the same problem as Windows: most Android apps are compiled for ARM, so you'd need an ARM tablet for the Android side to be useful, but most drivers and software for Ubuntu is written for x86, so you'd need x86 for the ubuntu side (and no, you can't just cross compile everything, as there is some proprietary software for Linux like Matlab that is not distributed for ARM).
how much RAM does it have?
According to Microsoft, if it's running Windows 8 32 bit at least 1GB, and if it's running Windows 8 64 bit, at least 2 GB. I'd wager since they said there will be specs comparable to ultrabooks, that'll be closer to 4 GB.
Also: enjoy looking for ways to right-click in Windows 8 on the Pro.
You mean using touch? It's tap-hold, just like in Windows 7.
Please explain how it is *not.* Windows 8 is a superset of Windows 7. Windows RT maybe not, but arguing that Windows 8 is not a full desktop OS is arguing that Windows 7 is not a full desktop OS.
This means that all iPad apps work perfectly without keyboards.
Not really. All it means is that you have designers who try to shoehorn applications that are optimized for keyboard input, like word processing and spreadsheets, into a touch interface. Apple tried their best at a touch-based office suite, but it is very basic and falls extremely short of the capabilities of Office. On the Surface, you have writing for when writing makes sense, typing for when typing makes sense, and touch for when touch makes sense. Right input for the right task.
It's not as if Swype hadn't already solv ed the problem of typing fast on touch screens.
Part of the problem with typing on touch screens isn't just the speed, it's the tactile response, comfort, and the fact that the keyboard takes up half of your display. Swype hasn't solved any of this.
I think you missed the point where the Surface Pro has a full desktop operating system compatible with all your hardware, peripherals, and software. Yes I can plug a transformer prime into a dock, but then what do I have? A tablet OS with tablet software, and a keyboard. Plug a surface pro into a dock and you have full access to a desktop operating system with Office, Photoshop, Matlab, Autocad, Solidworks, or whatever software you use for your work.
Pricing, yes, is nothing but wild speculation. Battery we can logically speculate on however. The ARM model has a 31.5 W-h battery, larger than the iPad 1 and 2. Coupled with an ARM processor, no super hi-res screen, and Windows 8 (which is surprisingly very battery friendly, at least the x86 version on my laptop. We'll see how the Windows RT version does) and I'm optimistic about battery life. Being able to use only metro apps on the ARM version is a real boon to battery life.
After owning a tablet PC with a real pen digitizer I used all the time to take notes, I bought an iPad in the hopes of a lighter, thinner, longer lasting digital note taking device. I was sorely disappointed. I suspect you've never used real digital ink if you're complacent with the iPads extremely primitive pen input.
ctrl-alt-del on a tablet is Windows Button + Power. These buttons are part of the hardware spec for certification so all tablets should have them.
I looked at the web site, and I thought it _was_ an Apple announcement.
That is the metro aesthetic that Microsoft has been using in many of their web properties since the Zune HD. See: zune, kinect xbox Windows 8 bing microsoft.com
block out the Microsoft logos and it would be hard to tell the difference between that and an Apple page.
It's easy to tell the difference. Apple is still big on fake reflections, shadows, gradients, bevels, faux 3D effects like paper curling, point of view icons, etc. Metro eschews these elements in favor of bold colors, lots of white space, and simple flat iconography.
they will always give a date.
If that date slips, it backfires. The original iPad met delays in manufacturing and its date slipped. Same goes for Leopard, which was announced in June 2005 and was originally intended to ship at the end of 2006/early 2007 and slipped all the way to October 2007. The white iphone 4 was also delayed 9 months past its launch date.
And full specs.
At announcement Apple hides many of the specs like RAM, CPU specs, GPU, etc. for products like the iPad and iPhone unless they have something major to announce, like in the instance with the iPhone 4S camera, where they went into excruciating and unnecessary detail about CCDs and optics.
And of course Apple only announces a product when it's done, and ready to go to the shops.
Also untrue, as in the case of the white iPhone 4, which had unresolved manufacturing difficulties at the time of its announcement.
but without compromising as much. It's bulkier with the dock, but hey, you do get a self-supporting, full keyboard.
That's compromising just as much, but more in the laptop direction rather than the tablet direction. Plus for all that keyboard the OS is still a tablet OS, so you don't get the same software that really takes advantage of it as of Windows 8.
But the product presentations they do is always the real thing, and the thing is ready then.
Not always. The original iPhone was announced in January and released in June. The original iPad was announced in January and released in April.
Then again, look at why previous Windows tablets didn't gain traction:
They were thick (check, Surface is thin)
They were heavy (check, Surface is light)
They were expensive (check, indications are at least the ARM version will be priced with the iPad)
The OS was not touch friendly (check, windows 8 is very touch friendly)
They were marketed directly to businesses (check, this tablet will be marketed toward consumers)
What more do you need?
The streaming service I use allows for locally downloaded copies of the tracks, so when I'm in the car I just download an entire album and let it go. When I'm done with the drive, the album gets deleted.
From the quote, if something as simple as a pin password is "higher-protection" then let's just call this face unlock feature what it is: a pointless gimmick.
I've bought a couple computers in the past that don't have optical drives, and they all come with external drives to make up for it. Apple seems to be the only one who won't go that route.
I think that hasn't been true in a long time.
I'm not so sure. A couple years ago I bought an HP Envy 15 for $999 after rebates with 1600x900 display, 160GB ssd, extra battery, 4 GB RAM... I don't remember what the exact specs were for an equivalent Macbook Pro, but I did significant price comparison and the Macbook was over $2000 for lesser hardware in every regard. Just priced out a brand new Envy 15 comapred to the brand new Macbook pro, and here's what we get:
.16" of height, OSX, and the Apple branding as far as I can tell.
Envy 15
Display: 15.6" 1920x1080
Processor: 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM Processor (2.3 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache)
Graphics: 1GB Radeon(TM) HD 7750M GDDR5 Graphics
Storage: 750GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive
Memory: 6GB 1600DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Height: 1.11 inches
Weight: 5.79 lbs
Battery Life: 10 hours
Warranty: 2 years
Price: $1,350.00
Macbook Pro 15
Display: 15.4" 1440 x 900
Processor" 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz) with 6MB L3 cache
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5
Storage: 500GB 5400-rpm hard drive
Memory: 4GB of 1600MHz DDR3
Height: 0.95 inch (2.41 cm)
Weight: 5.6 pounds
Battery Life: 7 Hours
Warranty: 1 year
Price: $1800
So from my perspective, for $450 less (and this isn't even without ninja rebate magic like I pulled on my last Envy) I'm getting better graphics, more storage, more memory, better display, bigger display, longer battery life, longer warranty, and I'm also getting a decent built laptop with premium features like aluminum casing, slot load DVD, and backlit keyboard, and basic features not available on the macbook pro like HDMI port, display port, 3 USB ports, higher maximum memory (16gb as opposed to 8gb for the macbook pro... how is this a "pro" model again?)
If the Macbook Pro was really a premium model with premium build and premium specs, then yes, I'd be willing to spend more on it. But it just looks like more money for less value all around. You're really paying a premium for