Skip to main content

Goodbye BIOS


Goodbye BIOS, Welcome UEFI

Your computer's basic input/output system (BIOS) is about to become history and be replaced by Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). Without compatibility problem, it has no pitfalls. 


When you turn on your system, a primitive system that dates back more than 30 years, the basic input/output system (BIOS), turns your cold hardware into a functioning system that your operating system can then boot from.

Can you imagine?! 30 years in the field of technology! Where things are changed within 30 seconds BIOS are surviving for 30 years! How can it be possible? Due to the compatibility problem this obsolete technology is surviving for a long time. Now it is time to change and upgrade. 

Hardware manufacturers are slowly replacing BIOS with the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). That's all well and good, but one UEFI feature, Secure Boot, could be used to lock PCs into being only able to boot one operating system: Windows 8. 

So, what's really going on here? Is UEFI just a way for Microsoft and its most loyal original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to keep Linux and other alternative operating systems out or is it more than that? To answer that question, let's have a look at what is UEFI.


What is UEFI

If you've computer hardware business, you know that BIOS has been terribly back dated for decades. For example, a BIOS only has 1 MB of executable space. That means a BIOS has trouble to start up the multiple peripheral interfaces (USB, eSATA, ThunderBolt, etc.) devices, ports, and controllers on a modern Computer. Just as annoying, the BIOS was never meant to initialize more than a handful of devices so even if you can get all devices ready to go it will take up to 30 seconds after you turn the switch on before your PC is ready to start booting. 

Hardware manufacturers knew that BIOS was obsolete even before the 21st century dawned. But, until recently they couldn't agree on how to replace it.

In 1998, Intel started work on the “Intel Boot Initiative” (IBI), later known as Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI). While Apple, in its Intel-based Macs, and HP, with its Itanium 2 servers, used it, the other OEMs and, needless to say, Intel's rival chip vendors, weren't initially keen on adopting EFI. In 2007, Intel, along with AMD, AMI, Apple, Dell, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Microsoft, and Phoenix Technologies, finally agreed to use UEFI (the re-branded EFI) as the universal replacement for BIOS.

Don't mistake UEFI as being purely a BIOS replacement. It's not.

UEFI is a mini-operating system that sits on top of a computer's hardware and firmware. Instead of being stored in firmware, as is the BIOS, the UEFI code is stored in the /EFI/ directory in non-volatile memory. Thus, UEFI can be in NAND flash memory on the motherboard or it can reside on a hard drive, or even on a network share!


Even in a UEFI system there will still be a little bit of the BIOS in the firmware to enable UEFI itself to "boot" up.


The UEFI advantage

The first thing you'll notice about UEFI systems is that they boot faster and you can have even larger primary drives. The BIOS is unable to boot from hard disks with more than 2.2 TB. That's a hard limit set in the Master Boot Record (MBR) that you can't fix. In the BIOS MBR, the maximum space for a drive is determined by the formula: 2 to the 32nd times 512 bits. This is an old hard drive addressing scheme. What it means in practice is that all but the most up-to-date computers can't boot with hard drives that are larger than 2.2TB. With 3TB drives now becoming common, OEMs have no choice but to move to UEFI on high-end PCs.

UEFI uses the GUID (Globally Unique ID) Partition Table, both to replace the MBR and address partitions. With GUID, you'll be able to boot from hard disks as large as 9.4ZB (zetabytes). How big is that? Well, everything -- and I mean everything -- on the Internet is believed to be just over 3ZBs. I don't think we have to worry about UEFI not being able to manage any drive it's likely to run into anytime soon.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

GTA San Andreas Cheat Code (PDF)

After Vice City, San Andreas is the most popular game released by Grand Theft Auto (GTA). Usually GTA releases role playing game. San Andreas is such a game where you can act like a person. You can do everything. You have to take part in missions and complete them.  To make your missions easier, there are lots of cheat codes. If you can properly apply these codes, the tough parts of the game will be easier. Cheat codes are somewhat like keyboard shortcuts of computer programs.  I've shared 63 cheat codes below. There were more cheat codes in my collection, but I've omitted the less important cheats. Effects or result of the cheats are on the left side, and the codes are on the right side.  You can copy the following codes in your PC. And for your convenience, I've also uploaded a PDF file of these codes. You will find the download link at the bottom.  Effect Cheat Code Adrenaline Mode MUNASEF All Cars Explode ALL...

Rules for Bengali Typing in PDF (Bijoy Layout)

Bijoy is the most popular layout for Bangla typing. The layout was developed by Mostafa Jabbar. He is the pioneer of Bangla typing in computer. More than 90% people use his Bijoy layout for Bangla typing. Today, I'm gonna share a PDF file with you that contains the Bijoy Keyboard layout with English fonts! If your keyboard doesn't have bengali fonts then you can print this PDF file to know where the bengali fonts are located in your keyboard. Additionally this file contains all the necessary rules and tips which are essential for Bangla Typing.  Now there are many other software available for Bangla Typing Layout. Such as Avro Easy, Unicode, Unibijoy etc. And there rules are also somewhat different from Bijoy. And some of their layouts follow the same rules like Bijoy. Hopefully this PDF file will support most of the rules when a layout is similar to Bijoy Layout.  Click to enlarge the image Download the PDF file from the button below. Follow...

Office 2016 Activator (KMSPico 10.1.5)

It's been couple of months after the release of final version of Microsoft Office 2016. And maybe you're tired of finding for a working activator for this version. Today I'm gonna share Office 2016 activator with you - no more waiting!! About the Activator   Name: KMSPico 10.1.5 File Size: 3 MB (Approx) File Type: Zipped Folder 100% Neat & Clean - No virus! Activating Capacity . . . KMSPico 10.1.5 is successfully leading the KMS world for last few months. If everything is okay, success rate is 100%. This tool has been tested and verified by Marks PC Solution. With this tool, you can activate -  Office 2016, 2013 & 2010 Windows 10, 8.1 & 8 Hopefully this version will work for both 32 bit & 64 bit versions of Windows. Installing Office 2016 Collect/ Download Office 2016 Professional Plus from Microsoft or somewhere else. Install it as trial version without any key. Use the follow...