American Megatrends Previews EFI Development Tools and Computing Solutions at Intel Developer Forum, Spring 2004.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

Intel Developer Forum Spring 2004

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 2004

American Megatrends Inc.

Editorial Summary

-- AMI will preview development tools and pre-boot applications

designed for the Intel(R) Platform Innovation Framework for

EFI at Intel Developer Forum (IDF) held February 17 through 19

in San Francisco

-- AMI will present on the topic, "OEM firmware development using

the Intel Platform Innovation Framework for EFI" (Wednesday,

Feb. 18, 2004, Room 2010)

-- AMI will showcase its latest developments in platform

management for IPMI 2.0 and digital KVM over IP

American Megatrends Inc. (AMI) will preview computing innovations based on the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) and the IPMI 2.0 specification and will demonstrate its recently announced standalone zero-U, digital KVM over IP solution. IDF takes place February 17-19 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. AMI's booth is 614.

"With its new product offerings, tools and pre-boot applications designed for the Intel(R) Platform Innovation Framework for EFI, AMI is a company focused on providing leading-edge computing technology to the industry," said Mike Richmond, Manager of Intel's Platform Software team. "Building on the Framework enables AMI to begin transitioning its customers away from the 23-year old legacy BIOS."

The EFI Specification was created by Intel, Microsoft and the industry to define a new model for the OS-firmware interface. The interface consists of data tables that contain platform-related information and boot and runtime service calls available to the OS and its loader. AMI, which helped develop the EFI specification that defines a new paradigm for the firmware interface, has developed additional tools for the EFI environment--including a number of EFI compliant pre-boot applications--to greatly benefit customers.

"As a leader in the current BIOS solution marketplace, AMI believes it is imperative that the move to a new solution such as EFI must be made smoothly and effortlessly for existing customers. For that reason, AMI is spending large amounts of engineering focus to create not only a solution under EFI, but a complete set of development tools, utilities and add-ons for the EFI environment," said Charles Hanes, AMI's director of BIOS porting.

AMI's development tools for the EFI environment:

-- Visual eBIOS (VeB) development environment, which has been

adapted to work with the Intel Platform Innovation Framework

for EFI ("the Framework")

-- AMI's OEM/ODM firmware development kit based on the Framework

(codenamed "Athens"), which is completed by a highly usable

and captivating Graphical User Interface;

-- AMI Debug for EFI, which offers source-level application and

firmware debugging capabilities

-- A rich pre-boot application environment that includes a

web-browser and a multimedia entertainment suite

-- Recovery tools that enable the user with a non-destructive

recovery of the operating system, the restoration of a

snapshot backup or the re-loading of the system factory image

-- In-depth diagnostics based on AMIDiag(R) for EFI

-- Compatibility Support Module (CSM), that provides

compatibility between the Framework and BIOS run-time code to

achieve levels of compatibility

Brian Richardson, an AMIBIOS sales engineer and regular presenter at IDF, will present on the topic, "OEM firmware development using the Intel Platform Innovation Framework for EFI," with an emphasis on:

-- Practical application of the Framework as an OEM/ODM firmware

development kit

-- Solutions to transition from traditional BIOS development to

development using the Framework

-- Development tools used in the AMI "Athens" development toolkit

-- Benefits for silicon vendors, OEM and ODM customers

IDF is an ideal venue for AMI to showcase several of its additional computing technologies, including its new digital KVM over IP switch and platform management solution based on the IPMI 2.0 specification.

-- MegaRAC(TM) K1 is the industry's first zero-U, digital KVM

over IP solution. This instant, clutter-free, space-saving and

non-intrusive management solution oversees a computer system

and gives system administrators complete KVM redirected and

associated control over a server from anywhere in the world.

Available in DVI or VGA versions, the K1 does not take up any

desktop or rack space, sits outside the KVM, server or

computer and does not affect local operations. With a simple

installation, customers of any variety can receive remote

management with ease at a fraction of the cost of competing

KVM over IP solutions on the market.

-- AMI offers a complete solution for platform management based

on the IPMI 2.0 specification. This solution is comprised of

such building blocks as the MegaRAC Platform Manager (PM)

Baseboard Management Controller (BMC), the IPMI v2.0 Firmware

Stack, Unified Management Server (UMS) software and an

AMIBIOS8 IPMI eModule. MegaRAC PM is an affordable solution to

the demand for "always-on" platform manageability. BMC support

includes National Semiconductor Skipper and Hitachi H8.

About AMI

Founded in 1985, American Megatrends Inc. (AMI) has dedicated its resources to providing OEMs, resellers and systems integrators with leading edge computer technologies. Privately held, AMI is best known for AMIBIOS, but also supplies state-of-the-art hardware, software and utilities to over 55 percent of today's high-tech manufacturers. AMI offers high-density motherboards, disk subsystems and innovative storage solutions. AMI is an Associate Member with the Intel(R) Communications Alliance, a community of communications and embedded developers and solution providers. Headquartered in Atlanta, AMI has locations in the U.S. and throughout the world including Chennai, Munich, Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo to better serve its customers. For more information on AMI products and services, call 1-800-U-BUY-AMI or visit www.ami.com.

Statement of Liability: Product specifications are subject to change without notice. MegaRAC and AMIBIOS are trademarks of American Megatrends Inc. Other products mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. American Megatrends reserves the right to update, change and/or modify these products at anytime.