BIOS Types

[JerometheGiraff]

What are the types of BIOS over years up to present BIOS types ? What make each BIOS unique and better then the previous ?

 

[marsmimar]

Jerome, that's a good set of questions and not easily answered. But here's what I think I know in a very short summary. The BIOS is a special kind of program called firmware. The BIOS is what initially starts up a computer and performs the POST (power on self test.) If the computer passes the POST the computer can then load the operating system. If the computer fails the POST, the BIOS will usually give out a beep code that can be referenced to diagnose the problem(s). The BIOS is stored on the motherboard in a read only chip. That protects the BIOS from being affected from operating system crashes or hard drive failures.

Each motherboard manufacturer can use a different BIOS because each manufacturer builds its motherboards slightly different from its competitors. If a manufacturer builds several different mobos, each mobo produced by the same manufacturer could have a different BIOS. That doesn't necessarily mean that one BIOS is better than another. Just that the individual motherboards are different and need a different BIOS to function properly. As of May 16, 2012, Microsoft recognized more than 60 BIOS manufacturers:

List of BIOS Manufacturer Web Sites Part 1

BIOS was the standard used for a long time. Then it evolved into Extensible Framework Interface (EFI) which also evolved into the Unified Extensible Framework Interface (UEFI). And this is where it gets kinda geeky trying to compare or point out the differences between EFI and UEFI. You might find these articles a good starting point for more research and information:

What is BIOS?

Different Kinds of BIOS | eHow.com

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[JerometheGiraff]

Thanks. I assume EFI has been around the longest, while UEFI is relatively new ?

 

[marsmimar]

That is correct.