Collecting info on subject. Please post Links and Details.

1st time ive heard of this, unless BIOS come completly programmable from softwares or hardwares that require specific needs, which would cause unstability and virus issues, and also incompatibilitys between hardwares and resources... id have to say that wouldnt work

Original - Fred Lang Plus - THERE IS A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

1) Bye-Bye Bios
The original IBM PC, introduced in 1981, was actually the forebear of all PCs ever made; an artifact as important as, say, Bell's first telephone or Edison's light bulb or the Wrights' Flyer. (Yes, there are other and earlier small computers, but none went on to dominate as did the PC design, which is the basis for something like 90%+ of the world's small computers today.)

But even that very first PC had a BIOS--- a "Basic Input/Output System"--- that contained simple setup and diagnostic routines and controlled how the system booted and ran, exactly as it does in today's PCs. In fact, every PC ever made has contained a BIOS. The system you're using *right now* almost surely has one.

To be sure, the BIOS has evolved over time. For example, unlike today's BIOSes, the original PC BIOS also contained a complete (albeit modest) software language, so users could do something with their PCs without having to load additional software from a slow cassette drive or from an expensive, optional floppy drive. This language was a version of BASIC (Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) supplied to IBM by a then-little-known company called Microsoft. Although the BIOS has evolved, it's still there at the heart of literally every PC ever made, an architectural component so deeply entrenched it may be the very last piece of the original IBM PC legacy to fade away.

But that's exactly what Intel's Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) project aims to do--- to replace the BIOS with a totally different approach that will change the way PCs set up, boot and run; change how you handle low-level system maintenance; and change how you back up and restore your system.

And that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg: The BIOS, system slots and buses, ports, hard drives--- it's *all* about to change. In fact, it's already happening, with the first of a new generation of components--- "serial ATA" hard drives--- coming to market right now.

Come get a sneak peek at the near-term future of computers at http://informationweek.com/story/IWK20030404S0003 . Click on over and check it out!

:o . I thought that the computer wouldnt even run with out bios... :o

yea this is new tech, i havent seen much about it anywhere, only the initial press releases.

Itaniums already have it, along with GPT replacing the MBR

"Janus" more info please and links to reference.
"Itaniums" (The technology) have been around for some time.
Do a search - and you get some 1000+ references.

Also, could this be the "Longhorn" OS from Microsoft ?
as refered to in this article -
http://www.geocities.com/moses388/windowsxp/
:o

There are many, simply query in google Itanium EFI

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treevie...erface.asp

for example