video games

Sony Zaps PlayStation 3 ‘Install Other OS’ Feature

(PC WORLD) - Sony giveth and Sony taketh away: When the company’s newest PlayStation 3 firmware update drops on April 1, it’ll remove a beloved feature once trumpeted as a system sale-maker. That’s right Linux wonks, it’s time to kiss the PS3’s “Install Other OS” option goodbye.

Unlike Microsoft’s Xbox 360 or Nintendo’s Wii, the PS3 shipped with an option to run “other” operating systems, including popular Linux distributions from Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE and Ubuntu. The “slim” model PS3 (CEH-2000) that appeared in September 2009 debuted without this feature, but Sony exempted older “fat” PS3s.

Until next Thursday, that is. When Sony’s PS3 firmware update 3.21 debuts on April 1, it’ll disable the “Install Other OS” feature on millions of older systems. While you don’t have to install the update, opting out will bar access to the PlayStation Network, newer games and Blu-ray movies, copyright-protected videos streamed from a media server, and any other new features in firmware version 3.21 forward.

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