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Skriven 2006-02-07 07:37:00 av Jeff Guerdat (1:106/2000.0)
     Kommentar till en text av Jean Parrot
Ärende: (U)Efi
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Thought you might like to see this article from eWeek on EFI:

PC firmware: The next generation

A NEW INTERFACE PROMISES TO STABILIZE DESKTOPS AND STANDARDIZE OPERATING
SYSTEM INTERACTION

By John G. Spooner

PC firmware, a murky world of interwoven software code that dates back to the
original IBM PC and its clones, is about to be modernized.

In a move that experts say promises to lead to fewer headaches for IT staff
by creating more stable and manageable desktops and notebooks, the PC industry
has begun transitioning to the United Extensible Firmware Interface. Dubbed
UEFI, the interface offers a standardized way for a PC's firmware, the
underlying software that controls its hardware, to interact with its operating
system. The new interface offers a standard method for loading an operating
system, as well as running preboot applications.

The action of standardizing those operations promises to cut software
conflicts, which affect system stability, and to open doors for new types of
management and security software, all of which could make life easier for
corporate IT departments, UEFI backers say.

"This is the biggest thing that has happened to BIOS in 25 years," said Dick
Holmberg, a manager at Dell's Enterprise BIOS Group, in Round Rock, Texas.
"It’s a pretty huge change for an area of the computing industry that
definitely doesn't get a lot of attention."

The arrival of UEFI, which takes over much of the work done by today's BIOS
software, marks the first time the PC industry is reconsidering how it writes
its firmware.

However, what will begin as a trickle of machines in the second half of
this year is expected to pick up steam in 2007 as UEFIspecification firmware -
the first UEFI specification, Version 2.0, was approved Jan. 31 - populates
new PCs. The new specification springs from the United EFI Forum, an industry
working group backed by Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, Microsoft, Dell and
several BI0S makers. It builds on Intel's Extensible Firmware Interface 1.1
specification.

"We believe most of the transition is going to start this summer," said
Robert Wise, vice president of product marketing at Phoenix Technologies, a
United EFI Forum member in Milpitas, Cali£ The company expects most of its
clients to adopt UEFI over the next two to three years.

Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Vista operating system is expected to lead
that charge. Vista was designed to work with either EFI- or BIOS-based
firmware, Microsoft has indicated.

During the transition, there are likely to be several firmware combinations
at first, including BIOS-based PCs, EFI 1.1-based machines - which can use a
BIOS compatibility module to run Windows XP or Linux - in addition to UEFI 2.0
machines. However, the UEFI 2.0 specification is expected to be the long-term
choice.

Given that UEFI 2.0 firmware is said to boot only 64-bit EFI operating
systems, the move there isn't expected to gain momentum until 2007, when
Windows Vista and 64-bit hardware come together, said Mike Richmond, manager
for platform software infrastructure for Intel’s Software and Solutions Group,
in Hillsboro, Ore.

"When vendors look at 'Longhorn,' 64 bits and UEFI, they're going to say,
'OK. That’s the place to start pushing this change.' Because you've got a
cluster of things together that makes sense," Richmond said. "I think you're
going to see a huge wave [of EFI PCs] in the transition."

Dell, which creates its PC firmware in-house, intends to make the switch to
UEFI, according to Holmberg. The standardized approach of UEFI appeals to
Dell, which has traditionally favored standardized hardware, he said. However,
he declined to detail the company's transition plans.

UEFI's promised stability comes from taking a standard approach to handling
firmware, experts say.

Under UEFI, each piece of hardware used in a PC is expected to be provided
with its own driverlike software, allowing changes related to that bit to be
made while the remainder of the firmware goes unchanged.

Phoenix Technologies, as well as American Megatrends and Insyde Technology -
which were early backers of Intel’s EFI work before it became UEFI - will pick
up and run with many of UEFI's new features.

The EFI and UEFI interfaces provide for a boot manager, normally a
third-party application, which will make it easier for PCs to toggle between
operating systems or boot from numerous devices, such as SANs (storage area
networks), in addition to their on-board drives. A network stack included in
the interface also will allow PCs to access a network before loading their
operating systems.

To combat potential security threats, the UEFI 2.0 specification adds driver
signing in an effort to ensure that only the proper hardware drivers get
installed on a computer, Wise said. A proposed UEFI 2.1 specification would
add advanced cryptography, network authentication and IPv6 support.



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