Windows 8’s UEFI Secure Boot makes it very difficult to run Linux

Mar 26, 2013 13:31 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft is again facing legal action in Europe, this time after a Linux user group has decided to sue the Redmond-based technology giant for the restrictions it implemented into its new Windows 8 operating system.

According to a report by Reuters, Hispalinux, a 8,000-member Linux community, has filed a complaint against Microsoft, claiming that Windows 8’s UEFI Secure Boot technology makes it very difficult for users to run an Ubuntu distribution.

Lawyer and Hispalinux head Jose Maria Lancho told Reuters that Secure Boot is “a de facto technological jail for computer booting systems ... making Microsoft's Windows platform less neutral than ever.”

While bypassing Secure Boot and running Linux on a Windows 8 computer isn’t quite difficult for experienced users, it is a real challenge for beginners who may get stuck with Microsoft’s new operating system. This is unfair practice, Hispalinux explained in the complaint it sent to the European Commission.

“This is absolutely anti-competitive,” Lancho was quoted as saying by the source. “It's really bad for the user and for the European software industry.”

Unfortunately for Microsoft, things aren’t going quite well on the Old Continent, as the company was recently fined $729 million (€561 million) for failing to provide users with a browser choice screen and thus force them to use Internet Explorer on Windows 7 computers.

Microsoft agreed with the decision announced on March 6 and said that it would pay the fine, while also promising to make efforts in the future to avoid similar issues.

“We take full responsibility for the technical error that caused this problem and have apologized for it. We provided the Commission with a complete and candid assessment of the situation, and we have taken steps to strengthen our software development and other processes to help avoid this mistake – or anything similar – in the future,” it said in a statement at that time.