Reading EzInKy's parent comment and his comment again, it still seems like he's implying that Windows 8 is not a general computing device. He never mentions game consoles, iOS, Windows Phone, and Windows RT and ends with "Can't believe Microsoft sold the hardware manufacturers on this shit.". Looks like he's talking about Windows 8 and not Windows RT(which isn't the cause of decline of PC anyway).

That's the funny thing about Slashdot, everyone starts adding their own anectdotes about their personal reasons instead of looking at a comment from a broader perspective.

I still haven't gotten an answer from anyone about why a Windows 8 device is not a general computing device, yet that post is still +4 insightful.

Post any anti-MS garbage and get voted up in the echo chamber. In fact the more BS and misleading it is, the more upvotes it gets.

That doesn't make any sense and is completely out of context.

If those two laptops come with Windows 8, what general computing are you prevented from doing on them?

Your Windows H8 is coming through :)

What general computing are you prevented from doing on a Surface Pro 2?

The fact that this comment is +4 insightful is precisely why Slashdot is in decline.

Pasted from one of my earlier comments:

Here are some references about boot malware which UEFI secure boot can prevent.

http://www.chmag.in/article/sep2011/rootkits-are-back-boot-infection

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/16/tdl_rootkit_does_64_bit_windows/

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9217953/Rootkit_infection_requires_Windows_reinstall_says_Microsoft

I recommend reading atleast the first link.

Here's one juicy bit:

TDL4 is the most recent high tech and widely spread member of the TDSS family rootkit, targeting x64 operating systems too such as Windows Vista and Windows 7. One of the most striking features of TDL4 is that it is able to load its kernel-mode driver on systems with an enforced kernel-mode code signing policy (64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows Vista and 7) and perform kernel-mode hooks with kernel-mode patch protection policy enabled.

When the driver is loaded into kernel-mode address space it overwrites the MBR (Master Boot Record) of the disk by sending SRB (SCSI Request Block) packets directly to the miniport device object, then it initializes its hidden file system. The bootkit’s modules are written into the hidden file system from the dropper.

The TDL4 bootkit controls two areas of the hard drive one is the MBR and other is the hidden file system created at the time of malware deployment. When any application reads the MBR, the bootkit changes data and returns the contents of the clean MBR i.e. prior to the infection, and also it takes care of Infected MBR by protecting it from overwriting.

The hidden file system with the malicious components also gets protected by the bootkit. So if any application is making an attempt to read sectors of the hard disk where the hidden file system is stored, It will return zeroed buffer instead of the original data.

The bootkit contains code that performs additional checks to prevent the malware from the cleanup. At every start of the system TDL4 bootkit driver gets loaded and initialized properly by performing tasks as follows: Reads the contents of the boot sector, compares it with the infected image stored in hidden file system, if it finds any difference between these two images it rewrites the infected image to the boot sector. Sets the DriverObject field of the miniport device object to point to the bootkit’s driver object and also hooks the DriverStartIo field of the miniport’s driver object. If kernel debugging is enabled then this TDL4 does not install any of it’s components.

TDL4 Rootkit hooks the ATAPI driver i.e. standard windows miniport drivers like atapi.sys. It keeps Device Object at lowest in the device stack, which makes a lot harder to dump TDL4 files.

All these striking features have made TDL4 most notorious Windows rootkit and it is also very important to mention that the key to its success is the boot sector infection.

Another bit:

The original MBR and driver component are stored in encrypted form using the same encryption. Driver component hooks ATAPI's DriverStartIo routine where it monitors for write operations. In case of write operation targeted at the MBR sector, it is changed to read operation. This way it is trying to bypass repair operation by Security Products.

Have you ever used Stackoverflow.com ? Congrats, you just used IIS/Exchange/Windows. Oh and it scales really well and is used by a lot of popular web sites.

http://highscalability.com/blog/2009/8/5/stack-overflow-architecture.html

It's funny the way you characterize the removal at Google despite knowing nothing about what exactly happened internally. If this was Microsoft, Slashdot would immediately jump to the worst possible conclusion.

So why was it pulled then? Just because Google wanted it to be gone? Or maybe because CM was trying to get shipped on devices?

Cyanogen Mod Goes Commercial To Make "Available On Everything, To Everyone"
http://slashdot.org/story/13/09/18/1626237/cyanogen-mod-goes-commercial-to-make-available-on-everything-to-everyone

It's ironic that you're posting this on the Internet which was invented by government funding.

Private research is all about low risk and expected short term profit. To do big things like the space program etc. you need a big push while taking big risks of failure.

Citation needed.
Microsoft doesn't use the text of the email, they use the subject.

Will it have the Play store and all the Google Apps?

I am guessing no because Google once send a C&D to Cyanogen Mod.

http://lifehacker.com/5367693/google-sends-cease-and-desist-to-cyanogenmod-android-hacker

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/

You just described Windows RT.

Which is why the biased headline, summary and article are nonsense. This is not even going to make a dent in Office, forget about "attacking" it.

Oh, what do you do on it? Can you draw like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puyMmARTqck

Oh wait, it even has shitty lag. http://www.geek.com/android/the-nexus-7-lag-dilemma-and-why-theres-no-real-fix-1560784/

Enjoy your lagfest.

I don't get all the nonsense hate. Comparing a Nexus 7 to a Surface Pro is like comparing a lawn mower with a jet engine. Of course it going to burn more fuel because it can do more. .