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Comment by kogepathic | Hacker News Reader

> Translation: The ARM "computers" will only run software Microsoft blesses. Can we call it a computer anymore?

Why don't people take Apple to task for doing the same thing? You can't take an iPad and install Linux on it, or Windows for ARM. You're locked into running iOS. Apple doesn't even allow downgrading iOS.

Same with Android devices that come with a locked bootloader. You can't install anything other OS version/flavour than what the manufacturer dictates.

Yes, it's unfortunate that Microsoft has this policy, but why is it that people only complain loudly about locked bootloaders when it comes to Microsoft products?

Apply the same standard to Apple and Android products with locked bootloaders. Microsoft isn't the first one to do this, and they won't ship nearly as many devices as other manufacturers who lock down the boot process.

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I will never buy any of those either.

It's sad to see companies doing that (walled gardens, locked bootloaders). Unfortunatelly most normal people don't understand the differences. They buy the device like any other daily product and expect it "to just work". :( Lots of people don't even know about alternatives, as their software comes pre-installed. Big companies are more and more controlling users and it looks like they don't care?

The op is complaining about calling 'computer' rather than 'tablet' this ms product. The ipad and iphones and android phones are tablet and phones, not computers.

They are all technically still 'computers'. Their form factor doesn't change that.

This has little to do with the 'technical' meaning of the term.

The big _practical_'distinction' nowadays between a 'proper computer' and a 'tablet/phone/etc' is between being open for modification, creation and alteration by the user, or to be a walled garden where only the manufacturer chooses what can be done and installed.

The Ipad Pro may be powerful as a computer, but we think about it as a tablet because it uses IOS and its walled garden.

The OP is complaining that MS is trying to push its new product into the computer space even tough it's locked down via Windows 10S. It's not true that nobody 'takes on Apple about this' - it's simply that Apple does NOT do that on its COMPUTERS (i.e. the Mac line).

Apple's entire business model is based on locked down systems like the App Store and iTunes and locked OS that void their warrantee when tampered with.

For most of it's life Microsoft has never put such restrictions on their Windows OS.

But I guess they have now realised, when it comes to making money, that Apple model is a much better way to go.

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