New speedy UEFI boot system to replace crawling Bios

by Steven Mostyn - Oct 4 2010, 09:06

Idly twiddling your thumbs whilst waiting for the PC to boot up could soon become a blessed thing of the past as the aging Bios start-up software is set to finally be replaced by a much faster boot system.

The replacement, which is known as the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), is expected to make its debut in 2011, bringing with it promised start-up times that equate to a just a few seconds.

“Conventional Bios is up there with some of the physical pieces of the chipset that have been knocking around the PC since 1979,” outlined Mark Doran, head of development group the UEFI Forum, in a BBC report on the technology.

According to Mr. Doran, the original creators of Bios didn’t design the platform to be extensible, expecting it to only have a short operational usage equivalent to around 250,000 machines.

Yet, some 30 years later, the Bios boot system is still here – although, evidently not for much longer as it struggles to function alongside modern PC add-ons such as USB ports.

“[With Bios] it can be 25-30 seconds of boot time before you see the first bit of OS sign-on,” added Mr. Doran. “With UEFI we’re getting it under a handful of seconds.”

Clearly enthused by UEFI’s potential speed benefits, Mr. Doran was also keen to point out that the development team is focused on using the platform to bring boot times down as close as possible to “instant-on”.

Around the Web