Intel signals the end of BIOS

Executioner · Post by **Executioner** » Mon Feb 24, 2003 3:00 pm

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-985600.html

For more than 20 years, the PC has relied on the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System), a small set of fixed software routines normally built into a chip on the motherboard. This hangover from a distant past is causing more and more problems, said Mark Doran, Intel's principal engineer behind the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) that aims to humanely kill the antique technology.

"When I started, I got senior managers together from across Intel and asked them what would happen if we had a blank sheet of paper to replace the BIOS," Doran said. "It turned into a three-day bitch session." He said that the original designers of the IBM PC BIOS had no idea that it would survive this long. "They thought that 250,000 machines would see it through to the end of its life," he said.

DoPeY5007 · Post by **DoPeY5007** » Mon Feb 24, 2003 3:05 pm

interesting.....

Hipnotic_Tranz · Post by **Hipnotic_Tranz** » Mon Feb 24, 2003 4:47 pm

The first difference people will see is in the splash screen, the display the PC shows when first turned on. Unlike the BIOS, EFI supports high-resolution displays. Likewise, it can run with a proper graphical user interface, rather than the blocky text-only interface. EFI also has its own networking, so it can be used for remote diagnostics.

Love the sound of it.

"We even have a concept of the afterlife, so if your OS freezes you can go in and look at the state of the machine, change the configuration, load a different driver, and do a sensible restart," Doran said.

And it's getting better

Though, I don't like the idea of it being on a small portion of the hard drive, just sounds like that could cause trouble. It would be nice if they just integrated it into the motherboard. But hey, I'm not the one with degrees so there is probably a reason to it

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Feb 24, 2003 10:35 pm

"Requires a special partition on the hard drive"

We've been this route before - specifically in 386 and some 486 era computers, most notably Compaqs. I don't know a single tech who wasn't happy to see that design concept die. Seems like a giant step backwards to me.

I'm also concerned about security issues. BIOS viruses are RARE because BIOS is firmware - it's hard coded into a chip and can't be overwritten. Once the BIOS is effectively software, I see a BIG potential for viruses to exploit the fact.

Judg3 · Post by **Judg3** » Mon Feb 24, 2003 11:48 pm

Amen Penguin,
When I first started in IT, I did the rookie support tech route
Worked for a place that supported hardware only, extended warranties. If you ever bought anything at CIrcuit City with silicon in it, you dealed with us. Well, we also did mom and pop outfits, etc, you name it.
I dreaded the Compaq calls, because 95% of the time, they upgraded to a new hard drive. Or did a low-level format, or something else, and the machine wa sbasically dead. Oi, I get all shakey just thinking back, I need to go get a beer now.

Slugbait · Post by **Slugbait** » Tue Feb 25, 2003 2:56 am

DOS is dead (BillG, 1994)

DOS is dead (BillG, 2001)

"It turned into a three-day bitch session."

Can you imagine the pissing match in the resulting email thread?

Absolut Talent · Post by **Absolut Talent** » Tue Feb 25, 2003 10:09 am

whats AMD's take on the end of BIOS?

I dunno......i dont mind the BIOS that much. I do like the idea of a better looking splash screen, but i dont like the risk of a BIOS virus

TruckStuff · Post by **TruckStuff** » Tue Feb 25, 2003 12:49 pm

Holding my breath waiting for this to see the light of day...

canton_kid · Post by **canton_kid** » Mon Mar 03, 2003 5:28 pm

I like Bios!

Whats the big deal here, who sits and watches a splash screen all day anyways??

Perfectly fine with me if it's a nice simple text screen that pops up and shows my ram and drive configuration. Who needs a fancy window to see the system has 2 hardrives and 2 cd rw's durring boot up? Not like your working in it all day long.

Would be nice to be able to reliably flash it when needed, or just remove any and all limits from it.
So far I never flashed one, always worked for me as It came.

Yep, make it software and you got viruses and trojens trying to break in the next day!

SsZERO · Post by **SsZERO** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 2:45 am

As the name implies, it is still firmware (Exstensible FIRMWARE Interace).

I believe the article's reference to using a special partition for the EFI on the HD is to allow for more storage space -- not for the EFI system itself. Drivers and utilities could be stored on the partition, rather than being crammed into a CMOS chip with limited capacity. This partition is merely an enhancement, but not a requirement for EFI to function. You would be able to perform a wider range of tasks with your PC even if you do not have an OS installed...very functional. I really like the remote admin abilities -- it would be awesome for servers.