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Will Microsoft drop the TPM requirement for Win 11 once Win 12 rolls around? (lemmy.world)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

207 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Or maybe they will launch Win 12 with optional TPM support.

Imho making the OS(es) TPM only cannot be good for their business, many people are still on Win 10 with no intention to switch, since their motheboard does not support TPM and do not want to upgrade PC / waste PCI-E slot on TPM extension.

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[+] [email protected] -6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

It's hard to avoid. People here just have been bitching about tpm because Linux distro maintainers don't want to jump through hoops signing their shit. This problem doesn't exist outside of Linux forums and people with absurdly old hardware.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Wrong. Linux has supported TPM2.0 for ages before even Windows and every distro maintainer would gladly sign their shit. The problem is that a shitload of hardware only accepts Microsoft TPM keys by default which can't legally be used by Linux distributions, forcing the work onto the users. It's pure vendor lock-in.
Also, this is going to be a way less of an issue when UKI's become the standard.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

As I recall it, and correct me if I am wrong; but Linux and Distros are given keys to use? So if they want to they can revoke those keys and you could only install a Windows operating system?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

The the default keys on the hardware, e.g. the keys hardcoded to the motherboard are 95+% of the time only the Microsoft Windows one's.
Even if the distro maintainers & developers had everything configured by default to be signed which is a pain in the ass without UKI's, it still requires the user to add new keys manually. Rarely do you have hardware with a key for a Linux distribution, and even if you managed to get hardware that has them, the majority of the time it's only keys for stuff like RHEL, Ubuntu Enterprise Edition, etc.

So if they want to they can revoke those keys

That's generally not possible, but I imagine if the BIOS is Internet capable it could be.

and you could only install a Windows operating system.

Nope. TPM isn't required to be able to install the system, only to take advantage of secure boot and security features of the hardware.