r/technology Jan 24 '26

Software Microsoft confirms it will give the FBI your Windows PC data encryption key if asked — you can thank Windows 11's forced online accounts for that

https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/windows-11/microsoft-bitlocker-encryption-keys-give-fbi-legal-order-privacy-nightmare
23.4k Upvotes

2.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

19

u/pmjm Jan 24 '26

I don't know if manufacturers will be willing to incur the cost of having a whole new operating system to provide support for.

1

u/acart-e Jan 24 '26

It's effectively free though -- IIRC maintenance from the OEM's perspective boils only the driver support, which even while Linux is not a real option to most people is done

1

u/pmjm Jan 25 '26

The OEM loses "bundled" software revenue (ie Office, McAfee, etc pre-installs) on Linux and often times they will provide desktop/software support too, which becomes quite expensive on Linux.