[olePigeon]

Anyone else think Apple's a great opportunity for Intel to push EFI? The Extensible Firmware interface is Intel's answer to BIOS (and obviously inspired by Open Firmware.) It's a firmware that's platform independent and much more extensible than BIOS. The computer doesn't have to boot into an 8086 compatible mode, it can boot directly as IA-32 or even Itanium (it doesn't matter, it could even boot PowerPC if you wanted it to...) Apparently, you can write custom low-level drivers and support in C++ instead of a low-level language. This would also make it a lot easier for Apple to get on top of new hardware and support. Perhaps even easier than Open Firmware.

I think this would work a lot better for Apple than trying to use a BIOS. BIOS would set them back to pre-Mac Classic days. Ugh.

Anyway, I think Apple's the perfect company for Intel to get EFI out in the consumer market (... and before Longhorn. )

I just noticed that Intel even has links on their main EFI page to the Open Source EFI for Linux, with downloadable source code and everything. So I'm guessing EFI is just as open as Open Firmware.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally Posted by olePigeon

Anyone else think Apple's a great opportunity for Intel to push EFI? The Extensible Firmware interface is Intel's answer to BIOS (and obviously inspired by Open Firmware.) It's a firmware that's platform independent and much more extensible than BIOS. The computer doesn't have to boot into an 8086 compatible mode, it can boot directly as IA-32 or even Itanium (it doesn't matter, it could even boot PowerPC if you wanted it to...) Apparently, you can write custom low-level drivers and support in C++ instead of a low-level language. This would also make it a lot easier for Apple to get on top of new hardware and support. Perhaps even easier than Open Firmware.

I think this would work a lot better for Apple than trying to use a BIOS. BIOS would set them back to pre-Mac Classic days. Ugh.

Anyway, I think Apple's the perfect company for Intel to get EFI out in the consumer market (... and before Longhorn. )

I just noticed that Intel even has links on their main EFI page to the Open Source EFI for Linux, with downloadable source code and everything. So I'm guessing EFI is just as open as Open Firmware.

I wouldn't be surprised... BIOS is so bell bottoms...

[Eug Wanker]

Beat you to the blog:

For quite some time now Intel has been developing its Extensible Firmware Interface as a replacement to the BIOS that has been used on motherboards for just about forever. However, motherboard makers have been slow to adopt the new EFI standard in x86 PCs for whatever reason.

Mac developers at WWDC had expressed concern that the current x86 demo machines sport a standard PC BIOS, and doesn't support basic Mac features like Firewire booting. Current Macs use Open Firmware but Apple has already said that it is abandoning it in its new x86 machines, but hasn't officially said what it will adopt. Perhaps to ease those concerns, Apple appears to be hinting that it will adopt EFI:

We realize there are lots of folks that need to know what is going to be in the ROMs on these new machines, and what partition scheme will be used. Unfortunately, we are not yet in a position to make that information available, but we will communicate it as soon as we reasonably can. Don't assume that what you see in the transition boxes represents what will be present in the final product.

The general consensus I've heard from other developers is:
1) They don't want us to use BIOS
2) If they haven't heard of EFI, they want us to use OF
3) If they have heard of EFI, they want us to use EFI

This is not a statement about what Apple will use, just what I've heard from developers that have an opinion on the subject.

Just like Apple's iMac gave the USB standard the boost it needed, Apple's x86 Macs may turn out to be the kickstart for EFI, too.

[mitchell_pgh]

The reality is, Apple doesn't need any legacy stuff on their motherboards. Why not jump on EFI.

[milhous]

and like i've said from a past thread, this is steve jobs we're talking about. over his dead body that the final machines would have a BIOS.