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Windows 10 Anniversary Update to Require TPM 2.0 Module 40 comments

Hairyfeet writes:

Among the new memory requirements for Windows 10 is this little tidbit, Intel's TPM module will be required for new OEM installs of Microsoft's flagship OS.

Where this leaves AMD and ARM isn't clear, but for those of us who don't want hardware DRM baked into our systems this is an unwelcome bit of news.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Microsoft Technet details the requirements for the TPM, what features require its use and different ways it can be implemented. It also gives the option of a firmware based implementation which can use the security feature, such as trust zone and IME.

Original Submission #1 Original Submission #2

Microsoft's Ongoing Tactics Against Competitors Explained, Based on its Own Documents 33 comments

canopic jug writes:

Microsoft's tactics against GNU/Linux have not changed much in two decades, they're just framed differently, nowadays the attacks are masqueraded as friendship and proxies are used more than before. So as a fresh look at how these established tactics are used currently to attack Free Software, a guest poster at TechRights has summarized them in a ten-chapter handbook, aptly named A Handbook for Destroying the Free Software Movement. The first two chapters cover what Microsoft is now doing through GitHub, licensing, Azure, Visual Studio, Vista10, and its other components foisted on developers. Other chapters cover manipulation of media coverage, OEM lock-in, use of attack proxies, and software patents. Most of all, these tactics have stayed true to the plans outlined over 20 years ago in the Halloween Documents.

Introduction
Chapter 01: Know your enemies– Act like a friend
Chapter 02: Work with the system– Use OEMs and your legal team
Chapter 03: Playing the victim– Show the world that too much freedom hurts development
Chapter 04: You get what you pay for– Getting skeptics to work for you
Chapter 05: Open Source Judo– How to bribe the moderates to your side
Chapter 06: Damning with faint praise– Take the right examples of free software and exploit them for everything
Chapter 07: Patent War– Use low-quality patents to prove that all software rips off your company
Chapter 08: A foot in the door– how to train sympathetic developers and infiltrate other projects
Chapter 09: Ownership through Branding– Change the names, and change the world
Chapter 10: Moving forward– Getting the best results from Open source with your monopoly

It's written a bit tongue in cheek from Microsoft's perspective. Some material is drawn from Comes v Microsoft (aka The Iowa Case) and, as mentioned, the leaked internal memos known as the Halloween Documents.

Original Submission

Windows 11 Will Leave Millions of PCs Behind, and Microsoft is Struggling to Explain Why 107 comments

An Anonymous Coward writes:

The Verge:

Windows 11 will officially support Intel 8th Gen Coffee Lake or Zen 2 CPUs and up, leaving behind millions of PCs that were sold during the launch of Windows 10.
[...] After much confusion last week, Microsoft attempted to explain its hardware requirements again yesterday, and it sounds like the main driver behind these changes is security. Coupled with Microsoft's hardware requirements is a push to enable a more modern BIOS (UEFI) that supports features like Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module).

takyon writes:

Windows 11: No Trusted Platform Module? Many AMD and Intel processors can run Microsoft's new OS without a dedicated TPM 2.0 chip

If your machine does not have a dedicated TPM chip, your CPU may have an equivalent built-in. Specifically, Intel integrates Platform Trust Technology (Intel PTT) in its modern processors, while AMD uses something called PSP fTPM. Many motherboard manufacturers disable these by default, but you can enable them from within your motherboard's BIOS. Every BIOS is different, so we would recommend reading your motherboard's manual first. For example, Gigabyte stored the AMD PSP fTPM setting under Advanced CPU Settings.
In short, you do not necessarily need to rush out and purchase a TPM chip to run Windows 11 on your desktop machine. Hopefully, Microsoft clarifies this in its Windows 11 system requirements at some stage, because Intel and AMD do not readily market their PTT and PSP fTPM technologies as TPM 2.0 alternatives. Microsoft has also released its inaugural Windows 11 Insider Preview build and has updated its processor requirements to accommodate the Zen 1 and 7th Generation Core families.

Original Submission #1 Original Submission #2 Original Submission #3

Report Claims Almost Half of Systems are Ineligible for Windows 11 Upgrades 34 comments

upstart writes:

CPU requirements are holding many systems back:

Windows 11 has been known for its onerous system requirements since before it launched. A new report claims those requirements are keeping a significant number of systems from upgrading and that Windows 11 adoption is lagging. Other reports are far less dire but still not optimistic.
[...] In the initial run-up to Windows 11's launch, much controversy centered on its requirement for TPM 2.0 and a relatively recent CPU. Microsoft wants users to have at least an Intel 8th gen or AMD Zen 2 processor, but the company is considering allowing some Intel 7th-gen chips and Zen 1s. According to Lansweeper, those requirements are the main roadblock for ineligible systems.
The RAM requirement[*] isn't a problem – 92 percent of surveyed workstations meet it. Conversely, only 57 percent of systems meet the CPU requirement, and 64 percent have the necessary TPM. Many of those workstations may be compatible with TPM 2.0 but might not have enabled it since some systems must engage the feature manually. While not great, these numbers represent a 12 percent improvement over 2021.
Microsoft's system requirements for Windows 11 aren't ironclad, however. Users may install the new OS onto ineligible systems, but they might not receive automatic updates.

[* Edit: 4GB of RAM apparently -- Ed.]

Original Submission

Two Security Flaws in the TPM 2.0 Specs Put Cryptographic Keys at Risk 41 comments

upstart writes:

In-hardware security can be defeated with just two extra bytes:

The Trusted Platform Module (TPM) secure crypto-processor became a topic for public debate in 2021 when Microsoft forced TPM 2.0 adoption as a minimum requirement for installing Windows 11. The dedicated hardware controller should provide "extra hard" security to data and cryptographic algorithms, but the official specifications are bugged.
Security researchers recently discovered a couple of flaws in the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 reference library specification, two dangerous buffer overflow vulnerabilities that could potentially impact billions of devices. Exploiting the flaws is only possible from an authenticated local account, but a piece of malware running on an affected device could do exactly that.
The two vulnerabilities are tracked as CVE-2023-1017 and CVE-2023-1018, or as "out-of-bounds write" and "out-of-bounds read" flaws. The issue was discovered within the TPM 2.0's Module Library, which allows writing (or reading) two "extra bytes" past the end of a TPM 2.0 command in the CryptParameterDecryption routine.
By writing specifically crafted malicious commands, an attacker could exploit the vulnerabilities to crash the TPM chip making it "unusable," execute arbitrary code within TPM's protected memory or read/access sensitive data stored in the (theoretically) isolated crypto-processor.
In other words, successful exploitation of the CVE-2023-1017 and CVE-2023-1018 flaws could compromise cryptographic keys, passwords and other critical data, making security features of modern, TPM-based operating systems like Windows 11 essentially useless or broken.

The Wintel Duopoly Plans to Send 240 Million PCs to the Landfill 55 comments

canopic jug writes:

Multiple sites are reporting from Reuters that new digital restrictions management requirements in Vista11 will send an estimated 480 million kg of otherwise viable desktops and notebooks prematurely to the landfill as e-waste.

Multiple key barriers prevent Windows 10-compatible PCs from running Windows 10, including a need for a 64-bit processor listed by Microsoft as a 'supported CPU,' at least 4 GB of RAM, a minimum of 64GB storage, and UEFI firmware with Secure Boot capability instead of the older BIOS. Additionally, a crucial requirement is TPM version 2.0 for enhanced security, which supersedes the TPM 1.2 version supported by some Windows 10 devices. In addition, Windows 11 also demands a DirectX 12-compatible GPU with a WDDM 2.x driver, which leaves out many older iGPUs. Many systems are still running outdated CPUs and using BIOS instead of UEFI with no SecureBoot support.
Canalys believes that a staggering 240 million PCs do not comply with Windows 11's requirements and are set to be rendered obsolete by Windows 10's October 14, 2025 support deadline. While recycling remains a viable option for these systems, the lack of compatibility with the latest Windows iteration significantly devalues them, making refurbishment less feasible. Consequently, despite growing capabilities in the refurbishment sector, many of these devices are still destined for landfills. This situation highlights a critical challenge in managing and disposing of electronic waste, Canalys believes.

The effective lifespan of these devices could be preserved, and the waste reduced, by upgrading to more efficient, open software such as the GNU/Linux distro of your choice.

Via:
Tom's Hardware: Microsoft's draconian Windows 11 restrictions will send an estimated 240 million PCs to the landfill when Windows 10 hits end of life in 2025
NDTV: Microsoft Ending Windows 10 Support To Affect 240 Million Computers: Report
The Economic Times of India: Microsoft ending support for Windows 10 could send 240 million PCs to landfills: report
NeoWin: 240 million PCs could end up in landfills when Windows 10 support ends

Original Submission

Microsoft is Digging its Own Grave With Windows 11, and It Has to Stop 74 comments

upstart writes:

Progress for progress’s sake?

Look, Microsoft, we need to talk. It's no secret that you've been nagging me (and everyone else) to upgrade to Windows 11 for a while now, with everything from ads to in-OS reminders pushing me towards the settings menu to check if my PC is eligible for an upgrade. But here's the thing, Microsoft: this path you're on isn't sustainable.
I mean this in a few different ways. Firstly, the extremely literal sense; Windows 11 forces a Trusted Platform Module 2.0 requirement, which for the uninitiated is a specific chip on your laptop or desktop's motherboard enabling enhanced security features. No TPM 2.0? No Windows 11. Yes, I know you can technically upgrade to Windows 11 without TPM 2.0, but I wouldn't recommend it.
Is that enhanced security good? Yes, absolutely - but it effectively means that many older computers literally can't run Windows 11, which combined with the impending Windows 10 End of Life is eventually going to result in a lot of PCs headed to the ever-growing e-waste pile. That's a real problem in itself. But I'm not here to rant about e-waste (though it's really bad). I want to talk about how users perceive Microsoft's nigh-omnipresent operating system, and how its current trajectory could result in serious issues further down the line.
See, Windows is constantly evolving - from humble beginnings as an MS-DOS interface in the mid-Eighties to beloved iterations like Windows XP and 10 (and widely panned versions, such as Vista and RT). But over the years, there have long been whispers of a 'final' version of the OS; a 'Windows Perfected' if you will, designed to last forever with continual updates - or at least, designed to last for a very long time.
In a sense, what those hunting for this 'last' Windows iteration want is the same experience that macOS users get: an operating system that just continually gets free updates adding new features, rarely changes in a hugely significant way, and isn't chock-full of annoying ads. Of course, it's not quite that simple for Microsoft; Apple has incredibly tight control over the macOS hardware ecosystem, while Microsoft theoretically has to make Windows run on a near-limitless selection of custom- and pre-built PCs as well as laptops from numerous different manufacturers. Then again, keeping ads out of Windows should be as simple as it is for macOS, and that hasn't happened...
At the end of the day, Microsoft doesn't need to keep creating entirely new versions of Windows - it does so because outside of an Apple-esque closed ecosystem, that's profitable, as system manufacturers will need to keep buying new OS keys and users will need to keep buying new systems.
Sure, there might need to be major overhauls now and then that leave some people behind - the TPM 2.0 debacle is perhaps one such example. But there are cracks in this methodology that are slowly starting to show, and I suspect it won't end well unless Microsoft changes course.
If upgrading to a new OS is a lot of hassle for an individual (I've personally been putting it off for years, still using Windows 10 on my personal desktop), imagine how much work - and how much money - it takes for a large business to do it. Although Windows 11 adoption is finally on the rise, plenty of private businesses and public sector organizations are still stuck on Win10 or older, despite Microsoft's insistence for us all to upgrade.
A 2021 report by Kaspersky suggested that 73% of healthcare providers globally are still using equipment with an outdated OS for medical purposes. Now, this isn't just talking about Windows computers, but it's a damning figure - a more recent investigation by Cynerio claimed that 80% of imaging devices are still using operating systems that have been officially EoL'd and are now unsupported, like Windows 7 and XP.

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