"While (especially Windows pirates) will get through that"
This isn't an anti-piracy feature. It is an anti-malware feature. For all of the beating up that Microsoft gets over security issues, Microsoft is attempting to keep malware from being part of the boot process. Unless the malware gets signed by Microsoft's key (or any other OEM-approved key), a rootkit or bootkit won't be able to load during the Windows start up process.
As you are from the land of Mac, I will explain a bit more detail here. When a rootkit loads during boot, it can fool the rest of the computer (and all anti-virus products) that there is NO malware on the machine. This means that most measure to protect a machine from viruses and keyloggers can be circumvented by the presence of this software running.
Macs have benefited from 3 things security-wise.
1 - a different security architecture than Windows.
2 - a low market share, virus writers get much more impact from writing viruses for the other 90% of the world.
3 - The people in poor asian countries where many viruses are written simply cannot afford Macs. They find old PCs and install some pirated version of Windows and start coding their exploits on the cheap.
Microsoft has since changed its security architecture, and there are many new security exploits being released for Macs. Windows is now officially more secure than Macs. Additionally, Windows has a user security culture that is paranoid about security and malware.
Mac users are resting on their laurels thinking that security and malware isn't an issue for them. Apple does whatever it can to cover up these issues and not tell anybody about them until they have been addressed. Mac users are being mislead, by themselves and Apple, and even more vulnerable now than Windows users have been.
I welcome anything Microsoft can do to make the Windows experience more secure and stable.
Re: Bug-free firmware?
This isn't an anti-piracy feature. It is an anti-malware feature. For all of the beating up that Microsoft gets over security issues, Microsoft is attempting to keep malware from being part of the boot process. Unless the malware gets signed by Microsoft's key (or any other OEM-approved key), a rootkit or bootkit won't be able to load during the Windows start up process.
As you are from the land of Mac, I will explain a bit more detail here. When a rootkit loads during boot, it can fool the rest of the computer (and all anti-virus products) that there is NO malware on the machine. This means that most measure to protect a machine from viruses and keyloggers can be circumvented by the presence of this software running.
Macs have benefited from 3 things security-wise.
1 - a different security architecture than Windows.
2 - a low market share, virus writers get much more impact from writing viruses for the other 90% of the world.
3 - The people in poor asian countries where many viruses are written simply cannot afford Macs. They find old PCs and install some pirated version of Windows and start coding their exploits on the cheap.
Microsoft has since changed its security architecture, and there are many new security exploits being released for Macs. Windows is now officially more secure than Macs. Additionally, Windows has a user security culture that is paranoid about security and malware.
Mac users are resting on their laurels thinking that security and malware isn't an issue for them. Apple does whatever it can to cover up these issues and not tell anybody about them until they have been addressed. Mac users are being mislead, by themselves and Apple, and even more vulnerable now than Windows users have been.
I welcome anything Microsoft can do to make the Windows experience more secure and stable.