[Live-demo] [OSGeo-Discuss] OSGeoLive 7.0 status: alpha1

[Hamish]

Alex wrote:
> My understanding is that the +mac disables UEFI support
> (something about the Mac implementation being weird and non
> standard since it predates the standard),

(and AFAIU they just call it EFI not UEFI, and if you want to
regularly dual-boot the "rETIt" boot manager is your best friend)

> so yes newer machines can use it in Legacy boot mode.

I had the fun time of trying to get ubuntu 12.04.2 installed on a
new Windows 8 Acer laptop the other day. Even knowing what needed
to be done it was a complete exercise in frustration. Since
Windows was already installed as UEFI you couldn't set Legacy mode
permanently without reinstalling W8 (I'm not sure if Windows 8 will
even install without it), and to access the BIOS setting to
disable "secure" boot the search-the-forums magic command was
to set a bios supervisor passwrd first. @$#%#$%! Oh yeah, and you
had to hold the shift key down while pressing poweroff in Windows
to get it it actually shut down, instead of just quick wake from
hibernation bypassing the BIOS access time-window. I'm afraid that
simple dual booting by the general public has been made a thing of
the past, in a rather clinical fashion. :-(

> But someone wanting to dual boot with a pre-installed win 8
> box will have issues using that (do we really want to give
> those people 32bit anyways?).

The ubuntu download page for 13.04 specifically states that
people with computers with a Windows 8 sticker on it will
need to get the 64bit version, although I think that's more
to do with their 64bit iso having UEFI support but the 32bit
version not.

there's nothing wrong with running 32bit+pae software on 64bit
hardware unless you want to run with >2gb file support. I think
any performance slowdown from the loss of registers will be
overwhelmed by the DVD or USB i/o bottleneck anyway, so not a big
deal.

> The reason Dvds work on a Mac is that they always
> boot in Legacy mode as detected by the Mac.

which is at least something, but new Macs don't come with DVD
drives, so...

> Ubuntu still has 32bit because there is still plenty of
> older hardware that isn't 64bit. If I though it would be
> easy to apply the same hack they use to make +mac on a 32
> bit build I would suggest that for max compatibility.

It may or may not work, I don't know. As for me, I'm still very
happy with my 32bit netbook for travelling/taking to conferences,
& don't excect to replace it for that role anytime soon.


Hamish