Change to 'Bios' will make for PCs that boot in seconds - Polidicks

Source: [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11430069"]BBC News[/URL] [QUOTE]New PCs could start in just seconds, thanks to an update to one of the oldest parts of desktop computers. The upgrade will spell the end for the 25-year-old PC start-up software known as Bios that initialises a machine so its operating system can get going. The code was not intended to live nearly this long, and adapting it to modern PCs is one reason they take as long as they do to warm up. Bios' replacement, known as UEFI, will predominate in new PCs by 2011. The acronym stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface and is designed to be more flexible than its venerable predecessor. "Conventional Bios is up there with some of the physical pieces of the chip set that have been kicking around the PC since 1979," said Mark Doran, head of the UEFI Forum, which is overseeing development of the technology. Mr Doran said the creators of the original Bios only expected it to have a lifetime of about 250,000 machines - a figure that has long been surpassed. "They are as amazed as anyone else that now it is still alive and well in a lot of systems," he said. "It was never really designed to be extensible over time."[/QUOTE]

Nice. Though I was quite happy with my boot time anyway, it didn't really bother me.

Awesome, not much else to say.

Amazing, simply amazing! Instead of wasting 1 minute of my life waiting for the computer to boot I'll be able to waste my life gaming 60 seconds longer than I usually would! Wow, thank god for science. Edit: I was joking, ease it up, this is a good thing.

This is good, though I'm fine with my boot time.

Very nice.

this will come in handy when i get a new gaming PC in the future

Anything to get my piece of crap going faster!

I am gonna miss Bios we have been through so much together.

Why oh why do they call it "UEFI" why not just BIOS2 or some crap that is a lot easier to understand. Also it would be cool if the "UEFI" upgrades itself (at booting) when it has a connection to the internet. rater then the use of floppy's.

I can imagine a virus coming out for this or something, although it will probably be 'impossible'. I quite like the good old bios, and to be honest my PC boots up in less than a minute anyway.

[QUOTE=timgames;25175706]Why oh why do they call it "UEFI" why not just BIOS2 or some crap that is a lot easier to understand.[/QUOTE] Horrible. HORRIBLE post.

[QUOTE=timgames;25175706]Why oh why do they call it "UEFI" why not just BIOS2 or some crap that is a lot easier to understand. Also it would be cool if the "UEFI" upgrades itself (at booting) when it has a connection to the internet. rater then the use of floppy's.[/QUOTE] If you knew anything, it would not be able to automatically update because it would be stored on ROM.

So it's only a code within the BIOS that's being changed to allow faster booting times? Does that means that all existing computers will be able to get this update, or is it only for future computers here on out?

For future systems. I'm sure manufacturers will not be assed to produce new firmware for their older boards. I miss the old ARCS PROM SGI used. [img]http://ash.dnsalias.net/static/images/sgi_prom.jpg[/img] Edit: They also better bring the fucking POST beep. Also, the BIOS only takes a few seconds as it is, the main reason we wait is because the OS is loading. Edit: You can hotlink my ass.

My comp takes like 4 minutes to start, shitty appserv.

[QUOTE=timgames;25175706]Why oh why do they call it "UEFI" why not just BIOS2 or some crap that is a lot easier to understand.[/QUOTE] Because - shocker - the acronyms actually stand for something. [quote]Also it would be cool if the "UEFI" upgrades itself (at booting) when it has a connection to the internet. rater then the use of floppy's.[/QUOTE] Yeah, it sure would be nice if computers didn't need software to run.

Nice to hear. My boot time on my computer is about 2 and a half minutes (it's a bit slow); with UEFI, it would save a good chunk of time.

[QUOTE=Shadowstone;25177145]Nice to hear. My boot time on my computer is about 2 and a half minutes (it's a bit slow); with UEFI, it would save a good chunk of time.[/QUOTE] It could just be the OS loading - BIOS only pretty much does POST and then loads your bootloader.

[QUOTE=esalaka;25177199]It could just be the OS loading - BIOS only pretty much does POST and then loads your bootloader.[/QUOTE] Ah, true enough. I'm still on XP; Should be getting Win7 soon enough.

What takes the longest on my PC's boot is the POST screen then the screen after it where it lists all the drives and verifies the DMI pool.

I've always said that the BIOS in machines looks extremely old. It would be interesting to find out what this is like when I get a new computer.

Cool! It's about time :D But... IIRC, [URL="http://www.splashtop.com/availability.php?cat=1"]we already have this (sort of)[/URL] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cukUykAYpS8[/media] (Somebody correct me where I'm wrong here)

-snip-

This is cool and all but what delay? My computer starts up in like maybe 10-20 seconds.

[QUOTE=MrJazzy;25175628]Amazing, simply amazing! Instead of wasting 1 minute of my life waiting for the computer to boot I'll be able to waste my life gaming 60 seconds longer than I usually would! Wow, thank god for science. Edit: I was joking, ease it up, this is a good thing.[/QUOTE] Really, stop trying to be funny because you're not. 1 minute times 6 billion people per day

It only takes like, 30 seconds for my PC to boot.

[QUOTE=Telepethi;25177775]This is cool and all but what delay? My computer starts up in like maybe 10-20 seconds.[/QUOTE] Stop posting this shit.

UEFI was announced ages ago

[QUOTE=Mr. Scorpio;25178410]It only takes like, 30 seconds for my PC to boot.[/QUOTE] Now it can be 10 seconds.