Apple makes their own devices. Microsoft is forcing OEMs who would allow dual booting to restrict user choice because they'd rather not compete.

Apple's devices are ARM (that's how ARM works, by licensing designs rather than fabricating chips like Intel).

Implementation detail. Apple sells iPhones, not ARM-based phones. They don't mention "ARM" anywhere in iPhone marketing materials.

They don't have to. It is what it is. The Droid isn't stated as being a Arm Cortex A8 phone. But that's exactly what it is and it's related to what they are stating in the article.

So, if Microsoft bought up Nokia or HTC and made their own Windows RT tablets, people will be better off with no hardware choice like with iOS and there would be no complaining here?

If a company wants to enhance competition between its hardware partners and a hardware choice to the public, they should be forced to not license it on their own terms?

So, now, Microsoft wants to "enhance" competition by making Windows 8 only devices that cannot be upgraded to a non-Microsoft OS.

That's an interesting interpretation of "enhancing".

Lets say a new company called "Cranapple" comes along and releases a new locked down tablet CranPad into the market with their own custom locked down proprietary OS.

Does this act enhance the competition in the tablet market? Serious question.

Microsoft have pretty much bought up Nokia.

rubs his Lumia 710 affectionately

It's not true in the same way about apple's ARM devices either. Microsoft's actions control the hardware's boot code, which (I am assuming) cannot be flashed easily as it's not generic between devices. Apple's control over iPhones is bypass-able via jailbreaking (I've seen iPhones that dual boot android, which wouldn't be possible with a similar restriction.)

Apple make this stuff hard and fiddly (and, on iOS devices, mildly dangerous). Microsoft are making it impossible, if I've understood correctly.

>Apple's control over iPhones is bypass-able via jailbreaking (I've seen iPhones that dual boot android, which wouldn't be possible with a similar restriction.)

Is there really a way to install Android on iPhone 4/4S or the iPad?

Then why aren't a whole bunch of people doing it? Because no one really cares about dual booting a personal device and the associated headaches with keeping things in sync?

I suspect that differences in the way operating systems format and read persistent storage create some interesting technical challenges for a dual boot device.