Those wondering whether Motorola's recently-announced Atrix HD will carry a locked bootloader can exhale – in a string of tweets earlier this evening, Moto confirmed that, yes, the Atrix HD's bootloader will be locked and signed.

That being said, Moto indicated that their "goal" is to provide a way to "unlock the bootloaders on our devices to those who wish to do so," adding that more details are "to come."

@kulow_atx Motorola ATRIX HD at AT&T will have a locked bootloader to meet requirements; (1/2) — Motorola Mobility (@Motorola) July 10, 2012

@kulow_atx our goal is still to provide a way to unlock the bootloaders on our devices to those who wish to do so, more details to come(2/2) — Motorola Mobility (@Motorola) July 10, 2012

What this means for the end user is that (for now) customization of the Atrix HD will be severely limited. A bootloader that is both locked and signed (as opposed to unlockable) essentially prevents any alteration to Motorola's kernel on the Atrix HD, making many tweaks (custom ROMs included) difficult until Motorola provides an unlock method (though the device will likely still be rootable). Of course, we'll keep you updated on this story pending more details from Moto.