>They'll probably justify that by claiming it will help reduce piracy and support costs and say that it helps bring computers to more people.
Their stated reason thus far is that it prevents rootkits that load even before an antivirus can run, thus being able to hide itself. I don't think it reduces piracy, or support costs except those caused by boot malware.
There are "activator" bootloaders that trick a pirated copy of Windows into thinking that it's licensed. Of course, any machine with secure boot will already include a licensed copy of Windows 8, but secure boot could prevent people from installing pirated copies of Windows 9.
> will already include a licensed copy of Windows 8
Even if the first thing you do is to disable the damn thing and install your favorite OS. If it's already hard to buy some computers without Windows, this may make it completely impossible.
Their stated reason thus far is that it prevents rootkits that load even before an antivirus can run, thus being able to hide itself. I don't think it reduces piracy, or support costs except those caused by boot malware.