[qzw]

> in short, the ARM systems boot Windows and only Windows.

I’ve not tried it myself, but a quick google seems to indicate people are running Linux on existing ARM64 laptops and there’s active development to try to achieve full support. For example, Ubuntu is installable on a number of off the shelf laptops, including one of Microsoft’s own Surface devices [0].

[0] https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/ubuntu-24-10-concept-snapdrag...

[bitwize]

I was wrong about booting only Windows, but this is because Microsoft still allows Ubuntu images to be signed with their master key. These machines are locked down to run only those systems Microsoft explicitly permits.