So my Queston is: does that mean that all these new laptops are not by Microsoft definition Windows 8 certified, and are running the non UEFI bootable version of Windows 8 (ie box set equivalent) (hence Toby being able to boot his Lenovo laptop without secure boot enable), and are not actually implementing secure boot and would therefore boot any version of Linux perfectly? Also, most manufacturers have pretty much given up on Windows 8 certification and UEFI anyway? Which kind of makes sense, since what it all means is being able to put a small Win 8 Sticker?
What am I missing?!!
You may be missing the distinction between the ARM and the x86 platforms. Last I heard, for windows certification (and maybe to work at all?) ARM devices require secure boot and require that there is no way to disable it. x86 only requires that the manufacture leave secure boot enabled by default. I believe the ARM version of Windows is a lot more like the Apple "Walled Garden" model. Wikipedia has some (hopefully) balanced text on the matter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_8#Secure_boot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_restrictions#Windows_8 James