Windows 8 (or, more likely, UEFI) warning.

[Ken D'Ambrosio]

Hey, all.  I was at a friend's house the other day, and there were some 
issues with their WiFi router.  Alas, I hadn't brought my computer (I 
know, I know...), so I asked to borrow one of theirs, with the thought 
of booting up to Linux.  (For whatever reason, Windows was having a hard 
time contacting the router; Linux had been proven a week prior not to 
have said issue.)  The first laptop that came to hand was a new Dell 
with Winders 8 and UEFI.  I was a little worried -- but what's more 
passive than booting from a USB key?

Apparently, the answer to that question is *not* booting from one at 
all.

Wouldn't boot to Linux.  Well, okay.  Let's try Windows 8.  Wouldn't 
boot to *Windows*.  First it tried to do a repair of some sort -- failed 
miserably.  Then it wouldn't get further than the "Dell" splash screen.  
Eventually wound up disabling UEFI secure boot, which allowed it to go 
into Windows -- whereupon I gave it back to the by-now very nervous 
laptop owner, and let the damn WiFi be.

Bottom line -- I think we, as Linux weenies, are gonna have to play 
with damn UEFI and get a feel for it.  Is it uniform across vendors?  
Can I always go for the "disable secure boot" option (which would, 
presumably, allow me to boot Linux)?  Has anyone with a newer laptop had 
any similar experiences?

-Ken

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