Usability

With the past 35 years the BIOS got extended by more and more functions. Looking at the intital BIOS which has been shipped with the first IBM PCs nobody would have guessed that sometimes enthusiasts and overclockers might adjust CPU or memory frequencies themselves. But ultimately, the introduction of 64 bit computer architecture showed where finally the borders of BIOS have been. More and more patchwork was needed in order to make the system for example compatible to hard drives bigger than 2.2 Terabyte, which is one of the reasons why companies like Intel put their heads together to develop a new standard. And this new standard is called Extrensible Firmware Architecture (EFI or UEFI).

UEFI in general is a specifications. Over the old BIOS it for example has the huge advantage that it is much more safe. Therefore it is not possible to attack it via Bootkit Attacks. Furthermore UEFI isn't bound to one specific CPU architecture. Like the "U" in its name says it's universally adoptable. It can also replace a BIOS or it can run on top of a BIOS.

Another goal of the developers was that UEFI would be easier to use for endusers than it's predecessors. This for example is why it's now possible to access UEFI not only using a keyboard you can also navigate it using your mouse. Developers are now also able to work together with their companies graphical department for which ASUS is a very good example these days. They really have created som very good looking user interfaces which on the front page are very easy to use. There also is an advanced mode which basically gives you all the functionality you might know from the old Award or AMI BIOS.

Page 1 - Introduction

Page 2 - Usability

Page 3 - Thought and Outlook