Windows 8 Hardware Has Another Problem For Linux

[oliver]

I wonder if PS/2 keyboards work; then 'f8' atleast works?

[uid313]

European Union

The EU courts really need to hit Microsoft with some antitrust lawsuit.

[Sonadow]

I wonder if PS/2 keyboards work; then 'f8' atleast works?

F8 doesn't work. In fact, the bootup is so fast that as soon as you press the power button all you see is a black screen for about 2 seconds and then the Windows bootsplash immediately comes on. In fact, for some high end machines the Windows bootsplash comes on almost immediately after the power button is pressed. That is how fast Fast Boot is; it makes sense if you think about it: have the firmware initialize only the barest of essentials and offload everything else to the operating system.

The only way to access the Advanced Boot Menu is to boot into Windows, select Advanced Reboot and reboot the computer. Upon reboot Windows automatically brings up the Advanced Boot Menu which, for Microsoft's own Surface hardware, allows entry to the UEFI menus. I don't know how it works for the different OEMs of Windows 8 notebooks though.

[Calinou]

The EU courts really need to hit Microsoft with some antitrust lawsuit.

Well, do it, they aren't reading Phoronix forums all day.

[TheLexMachine]

Unless it's a soldered-down SSD.

What you are referring to are flash chips soldered onto the board and those are only found in a handful of those older Ultra-portables and Apple's stuff. Neither of which are overly popular with Linux users and mSATA is likely going to kick those to the curb now that more companies are making mSATA SSDs which are going into the new Ultrabooks. It's really not a problem except for those who make it their problem by poor decision making when it comes to hardware purchases.

[Larian]

As for the restore disc, there is no need for one. Having tested a fresh Win 8 install from the install DVD, i can confirm that the second you install Windows 8, Windows automatically creates a hidden restore partition that can be used to reformat the computer and reinstall itself if the need arises. Really, the installer DVD is quite redundant after the install process is completed. In the event that the restore/refresh process requires you to provide the install DVD, it will have automatically configured the firmware to allow booting from optical media prior to the reboot.

I disagree rather strongly. To my way of thinking, physical media will be (and probably should be) required for the foreseeable future. What are you to do when, not if, your hard drive fails and that magical restore partition can't be accessed? Dead drives must be replaced, and they don't always die in a gentle manner that you can see coming. Maybe you had a head crash when your laptop took a spill off the sofa, or maybe something ate sector 0 on the drive. Either way, the thing is dead and it ain't coming back. So is there a need for a restore disk? You'd better believe it.

Moreover, I would wager that something which has borked your OS to the point of requiring a restore operation renders the automatic configuration of much of anything suspect. For critical operations such as this, I'm thinking a human needs to be in the loop rather tightly with a handy-dandy disk/USB key in hand.

[Tuxee]

Hardly anyone installs Linux from a USB thumb drive anyway so it's not really a problem except on Ultrabooks/Ultra portables, which don't have optical drives to begin with, and those aren't very popular amongst Linux users as it is.

Utter bullshit. Optical discs are dead. The last time I installed my Linux distro from a CD/DVD was years ago.

[mithion]

I'm sick and tired of the cancer that is Windows 8. I always like to have a windows partition so that I can play games, but I do all my work from Linux. Recently I've been looking at replacing my little Brazos netbook with something a little newer and faster. Windows 8 is making shopping a ridiculous experience since I can't run it side by side with Linux because of the pain in the a** that is secure boot. I can only get one running at a time. How is this not an infringement of our rights? If I want to run Linux and Windows side by side, why can't I? How come Microsoft gets to decide what I can and can't run? And now I just learned that USB drives won't even work so I can't install Linux from a stick?

Because of this, I can't even buy the laptop I want despite paying the Microsoft tax (I hate being obligated to pay it in the first place but I do it anyway just so I can get peace and put the OS I want after). At this point, System76 is starting to look mighty appealing. <End of rant>

[mjg59]

I can't run it side by side with Linux because of the pain in the a** that is secure boot.

Why not? It works fine here.

[a user]

Hardly anyone installs Linux from a USB thumb drive anyway so it's not really a problem except on Ultrabooks/Ultra portables, which don't have optical drives to begin with, and those aren't very popular amongst Linux users as it is.

this (very wrong) assumption is based on what? i mean the first one.

but the second one i doubt too.