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Intel is planning to end "legacy BIOS" support in their new platforms by 2020 in requiring UEFI Class 3 or higher.
Making rounds this weekend is a slide deck from the recent UEFI Plugfest. Brian Richardson of Intel talked about the "last mile" barriers to removing legacy BIOS support from systems.
By 2020, they will be supporting no less than UEFI Class 3, which means only UEFI support and no more legacy BIOS or CSM compatibility support mode. But that's not going to force on UEFI Secure Boot unconditionally: Secure Boot enabled is considered UEFI Class 3+.
Intel hasn't removed legacy BIOS / CSM support yet due to many customers' software packages still relying upon legacy BIOS, among other reasons. Removing the legacy BIOS support will mitigate some security risks, needs less validation by vendors, allows for supporting more modern technologies, etc.
Source: Intel Planning To End Legacy BIOS Support By 2020
(Score: 2) by deimios on Saturday November 25 2017, @06:09PM (1 child)
Right now if you refuse to pay the microsoft tax most newly bought PC-s are loaded with FreeDOS or a small minority wih a linux distro. FreeDOS has no UEFI support so that won't work forever. I wonder what PC builders will use on these systems.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by pTamok on Saturday November 25 2017, @08:19PM
They could use Ubuntu with the SecureBoot shim - the root is still signed by Microsoft
Ubuntu SecureBoot [ubuntu.com]
The issue is, of course, that you no longer have the illusion of control of your hardware.
Why do I say the 'illusion of control' - well, even now, because Intel's and AMD's hardware is closed, you do not know what backdoors may already have been implemented, or what vulnerabilities may have been kept hidden. The panic-du-jour is about Intel's management Engine (ME), and, to a lesser extent, AMD's PSP; but in the absence of verified open hardware and software, you simply have to trust the vendors. If you are not a nation-state, this is probably not a big issue, but for people who like to make unauthorised copies of copyrighted works (like music and movies) it makes life a little more difficult.
It is not a coincidence that both China and Russia are looking at designing and building their own processors and system architectures. If there is hope, it is if somewhere like Brazil or Japan decide to produce open hardware and open systems, and make them available to everybody. In my most cynical moments, I wouldn't be surprised if Trade Treaties like the TPP contain clauses to prevent specifically that.