Windows 8 developer build may not allow Dual Boot

Few days back, Microsoft reveled the successor of Windows 7 operating system. Microsoft code named Windows 7 successor as Windows 8 and they revealed the features of Windows 8 in the "Build Conference" which held in "California". Before the "Build Conference", Microsoft started a blog with name "Building Windows 8", and the main intention of creating the blog is to advertise the features of Windows 8 operating system. The blog is authored by many working professionals in Microsoft.

In the starting days of blog, Microsoft revealed the upcomingfeatures of Windows 8 operating system. In the Build Conference, Microsoft revealed some other Windows 8 features. Microsoft presented a Samsung Windows 8 tablet to every build attendee. Though there are many changes when we compare Windows 7 with Windows 8, the main change in Windows 8 is the new Metro Interface. As per rumors,Metro Interface will be the default interface in all Windows 8 operating system. Though Metro Interface will work with Windows 8 devices, it works best with Touch enabled devices like Tablets, Slates, Smart phones etc. There are many new features available in Windows 8 operating system, one among them is the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) which protects operating system from the Malware at the boot up time.

With the new UEFI technology, Windows 8 could prevent users from running both Windows and other operating systems. The new UEFI which Windows 8 supports, will prevent any unsigned executable or drivers from being loaded in the startup. It will be a main problem to Linux users who want to dual boot both Windows 8 and Linux operating systems.

As per Microsoft, they used the new UEFI for blocking malware and rootkits at startup of operating system. Though Microsoft is saying that they created for blocking malwares, many tech bloggers around the world commenting that, Microsoft trying to kill Linux operating system. with the UEFI, users won't be able to dual-boot alternative operating system with Windows 8 OS, unless the other operating system is signed by a certificate authority.

However, one can dual boot Windows 8 with other operating system by disabling secure booting option in the UEFI settings. For those who build their own systems, it will not be a big problem. For users who want to dual boot Windows 8 with Linux, if their system is not signed, then they can't use Linux with Windows 8. Below is the image taken from the Building Windows 8 blog, where Microsoft explained how to disable secured booting.