BIOS or UEFI - these are the differences
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The BIOS is the basic input and output system of a computer. But in this article we show you exactly where the differences from the successor UEFI lie.
BIOS - what is it actually?
The abbreviation BIOS stands for "Basic Input Output System" (German: basic input and output system).
- Every PC that is not already equipped with the successor UEFI has a BIOS.
- The job of the BIOS is to make the computer operational by initializing the individual components of the PC, checking the functionality and then starting the operating system.
- The BIOS is housed on a memory chip in the mainboard. It is not writable - it can only be read.
Why is there UEFI?
The successor to the long-established BIOS is the UEFI. The abbreviation stands for "Unified Extensible Firmware Interface". Like the BIOS, it represents the interface between hardware and operating system.
- As a system, the BIOS is around 30 years old and therefore had to be constantly adapted to new standards. That's why the different versions diverge.
- The UEFI is the new variant of the BIOS and is subject to framework conditions that manufacturers such as AMD, Intel and IBM have decided on.
BIOS or UEFI: the differences
- In contrast to the BIOS, the UEFI is its own small operating system. For example, you can download and install updates directly via the UEFI. To update the BIOS, on the other hand, you must first download an update and then load it into the BIOS.
- You can also operate the UEFI using the mouse and the user interface is graphically displayed. You can only operate the BIOS with the keyboard.
- Another key difference is that hard drives and SSDs are now partitioned differently. While the BIOS works with MBR, UEFI now uses the GPT partition scheme. You can set up up to 128 instead of 4 primary partitions and now process 3 TB storage media instead of 2.2 TB.
- Another new standard is set with the new system: With the UEFI you can only boot 64-bit systems. The UEFI boot loader also replaces the classic boot loader.