Sony announced a new firmware update for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) yesterday, which will see owners of the pre-slim models (which we like to call the fat PS3s) lose a distinguishing feature. PS3 Firmware 3.21, that will be available from Thursday, is going to disable the ‘Install Other OS’ feature on these older PS3 models due to “security concerns”.
 
“If you currently use the ‘Other OS’ feature and you wish to update to system software 3.21, make sure you back-up any data stored within the hard drive partition used by the ‘Other OS,’ as they will not be able to access that data following the update,” Charlotte Panther, SCEE head of PR advises on their blog. 
 
You could, however, choose not to update to the new firmware, but that would mean you will not be able to sign into the PlayStation Network (PSN). So you won’t be able to play games online, chat online, or playback Blu-ray movies or PS3 titles that require firmware 3.21.