New Unified EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) Forum to Manage Key Firmware to Operating System Specification.PORTLAND, Ore. -- AMD (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, www.amd.com) A major manufacturer of semiconductor devices including x86-compatible CPUs, embedded processors, flash memories, programmable logic devices and networking chips. , American Megatrends American Megatrends Incorporated (AMI) is a Georgia, USA based hardware company that creates PC hardware and firmware. It was founded in 1985 by the current chairman and president, S. Shankar. , Inc., Dell Inc., HP, Intel Corporation (company) Intel Corporation - A US microelectronics manufacturer. They produced the Intel 4004, Intel 8080, Intel 8086, Intel 80186, Intel 80286, Intel 80386, Intel 486 and Pentium microprocessor families as well as many other integrated circuits and personal computer networking , International Business Machines Corporation, Insyde Software Insyde Software is listed on the second board (the GreTai) of the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), stock code 6231. The company is headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Intel is said to own approximately 20% of the company. Corp., Microsoft Corp., and Phoenix Technologies Ltd. to Collaborate Leading technology companies have formed the Unified EFI Forum The Unified EFI Forum or UEFI Forum (where UEFI stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is an alliance between several leading technology companies including AMD, American Megatrends, Apple, Dell, HP, IBM, Insyde Software, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, and , Inc., a non-profit Washington corporation. The Forum will assume responsibility from Intel for the evolution and promotion of the EFI See UEFI. EFI - Extensible Firmware Interface Specification, which details an interface to hand off control of a system from the pre-boot environment to current and next-generation operating systems Operating systems can be categorized by technology, ownership, licensing, working state, usage, and by many other characteristics. In practice, many of these groupings may overlap. . EFI is already supported by a number of 64-bit operating systems and platforms, and is an emerging interface for 32-bit operating systems. The inclusion of UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) A standard programming interface for setting up and booting a computer from the UEFI Forum (www.uefi.org). It evolved from the EFI interface developed by Intel, which was first used in Intel's Itanium line. in operating systems and platforms will advance interoperability between platforms and add-in cards and pave the way for improvements in boot performance and robustness. The Forum will review the present EFI 1.10 Specification for any required changes, and intends to publish the first Unified EFI Specification by the end of 2005. The Forum will also make available test suites for the UEFI Specification based on contributions from member companies. Interested parties are invited to participate in the activities of the Unified EFI Forum as either Contributors or Adopters. The Promoters have agreed that licenses to any Promoter intellectual property required to implement the specification will be available on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. More information is available at http://www.uefi.org. AMD "AMD believes that truly open standards Specifications for hardware and software that are developed by a standards organization or a consortium involved in supporting a standard. Available to the public for developing compliant products, open standards imply "open systems;" that an existing component in a system can be replaced are fundamental to our industry and are in the best interest of both users and technology companies," said Joe Menard, Corporate Vice President, Software Strategy, AMD. "AMD's relentless promotion of this ideal has resulted in the widespread adoption of beneficial industry standards such as x86-based, simultaneous 64- and 32-bit computing, and HyperTransport(TM) technology. The Unified EFI Specification and the formation of the UEFI Forum can help ensure that openness continues where x86-based software and hardware meet, providing customers and suppliers the choice and flexibility they demand." American Megatrends Inc. "AMI is excited to contribute to the UEFI specification for next-generation platforms. After 20 years in the computer industry, AMI understands the importance of specifications to the evolution of the platform," said S. Shankar, AMI president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "We are glad to contribute with our expertise and creativity to improve platform reliability, security, and quality of the user experience." Dell "Dell advocates industry standards because they drive flexibility, simplification, and lower costs for customers," said Winston Bumpus, director of standards, Dell Product Group. "EFI defines a standard, well documented, and easily extensible interface between firmware A category of memory chips that hold their content without electrical power. Firmware includes flash, ROM, PROM, EPROM and EEPROM technologies. When holding program instructions, firmware can be thought of as "hard software." See flash memory, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM and FOTA. and operating systems, providing a foundation for advanced features and simplified operation." Dell Inc. (Nasdaq:DELL) is a trusted and diversified information-technology supplier and partner, and sells a comprehensive portfolio of products and services directly to customers worldwide. Dell, recognized by Fortune magazine as America's most admired company and No. 3 globally, designs, builds and delivers innovative, tailored systems that provide customers with exceptional value. Company revenue for the past year was $49.2 billion. For more information about Dell and its products and services, visit www.dell.com. HP "EFI is a core component for HP's Integrity servers supporting HP's strategy to support multiple operating systems," said Jerry Huck huck n. Huckaback. Noun 1. huck - toweling consisting of coarse absorbent cotton or linen fabric huckaback toweling, towelling - any of various fabrics (linen or cotton) used to make towels , chief technology officer of Business Critical Servers at HP. "HP strongly supports the establishment of the Unified EFI Forum for the continuing evolution of the specification and the value it provides our customers in simplicity and boot-time capabilities." IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) "IBM is pleased to extend our industry standards and open community leadership in developing this new UEFI initiative," said Dr. Tom Bradicich, chief technology officer, eServer xSeries and BladeCenter, IBM Systems and Technology Group, "EFI technology will ease development and integration of our future management and operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. features, continuing the advantage our customers receive from IBM servers." Intel "The ability for computers to boot faster or operate more reliably benefits all users, from high school students to mobile knowledge works to IT managers," said Richard Wirt, vice president, Intel senior fellow and general manager of Intel's Software and Solutions Group. "Intel began driving the EFI specification to bring further innovation to the computer BIOS, an area that hadn't been updated for many years, and this directly impacts the way computers boot and work. It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a now to transition this effort to a broad group of technology industry leaders who can continue crafting the EFI Specification and deliver it to the marketplace." Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom. Intel is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and other countries. Insyde "Insyde continues to be a strong promoter of EFI, and welcomes the formation of this new industry group," said Rex Flynn, Insyde Software's Principal Architect of Software Technology. "The establishment of the Unified EFI Forum and the widespread adoption of the UEFI specification will benefit suppliers and customers alike by standardizing a non-proprietary interface that can help ensure interoperability and encourage innovation." Microsoft "Microsoft is very excited about the formation of the Unified EFI Forum," said Chris Jones, Corporate Vice President, Windows Core Operating System, Microsoft Corp. "We are pleased to take a leadership role in an organization that is managing and evolving EFI; Microsoft believes that EFI is a key technology in the continued evolution and innovations of the core platform and expect strong industry participation in the Unified EFI Forum." Phoenix Technologies Ltd. "Phoenix is pleased to contribute our long-standing knowledge and expertise in the BIOS and core system software industry, towards the unification of EFI," said Michael D. Goldgof, senior vice president and general manager, Corporate Marketing and Products Division, Phoenix Technologies. "We support the formation of the Unified EFI and look forward to the opportunities this open standard will provide our customers." |
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