"Microsoft's rebuttal is entirely factually accurate. But it's also misleading," Garrett responded in a follow-up blog item, posted Friday. Under the licensing agreement, the equipment manufacturer is under no obligation to provide users with the ability to disable the secure boot capability. Beyond the use of third-party OSes, this approach might also hamper the ability of users to upgrade components such as graphics cards, because there is no requirement to provide the user with the capability of installing additional keys.

"The truth is that UEFI secure boot is a valuable and worthwhile feature that Microsoft are misusing to gain tighter control over the market," Garrett charged.

The IDG News Service