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Pre-Boot Environment
Andrew Ritz
Development Manager
Core Platform Architecture Team
Microsoft Corporation
Agenda
What is firmware (and how does
Windows use it)?
Multi-OS Firmware roadmap for Windows
Windows Boot Environment overview
Deployment Guidelines for
Boot Environment
What Is Firmware
Power on sequence
Installed with a computer in non-volatile location
(PROM\EEPROM)
Initializes low level hardware
Initializes memory controller timings, powers on critical
boot devices
Hands off control to operating
system loader
Operating system loader uses firmware interfaces to initialize
the operating system
Refer to as pre-boot firmware
Examples: BIOS and EFI
What Is Firmware
Limited runtime usage
KEY:
Yes, logo: Can be used and is also a requirement in order to get a Designed for Windows logo for that OS release on
that architecture
Supported: Can be used but is not the only choice for that OS release on that architecture
Unsupported: Cannot be used for that OS release on that architecture
Required: The only choice for that OS release on that architecture
UEFI Firmware Support
Windows Vista Beta 2 will have UEFI support
available for test and development
Includes x64, IA64 support
Partners can make EFI CD media manually
Contact us for instructions
Post Windows Vista Beta 2
x64 UEFI support removed for
Window Vista RC, RTM
UEFI support will be present in Windows Server
Longhorn Beta and RTM
UEFI support will be re-added in subsequent
Windows Vista release
Future Windows
Firmware Support
Windows Server Longhorn wave has
feature parity across BIOS and UEFI
If widespread adoption occurs, Windows
direction is to begin adding value to UEFI
based platforms in future releases
Exclusive support for new scenarios
and experiences
Will add support for VGA-less
graphics platforms
Windows Vista And Firmware
Building block for firmware independence
Winboot @ microsoft.com
Backup
EFI Firmware
Great for the industry
Standards-based
Well-specified and unambiguous
Conformance testing means cross-platform consistency
Robustness
GPT support adds more fault tolerance
Security
NVRAM entries to launch a boot option; no MBR bootstrap no MBR Viruses
Speed
Quicker hand-off from firmware to the Windows Boot Manager possible on Server systems
Architecturally clean and modernized
A native 64-bit firmware implementation for 64-bit processors
Take advantage of newer compilers and languages
Eases bring up
Modular design speeds implementation bring up
Eliminates BIOS complications
Eliminating the need for shadow memory enables more plug-in cards in a system
Server RAID option ROMs are very large and a single card may exhaust shadow memory
No 16-bit code
Booting From Optical Media
Windows shipping on optical media that can boot either
via EFI or BIOS is planned
El Torito multiple boot catalog support is used to
enable this
Default boot entry: BIOS ETFS bootstrap code
x86 platform tag
Launches BIOS bootstrap code “etfsboot.com”
Second boot entry: EFI boot application
EF platform tag
Points to a mountable file system containing
\EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI
For this to work the BIOS must support multiple boot
entries, and should default to booting the default entry
Booting From Optical Media
EFI ignores the BIOS entry and recognizes the EFI entry
It mounts the ESP and launches the
boot application
Windows is planned to support both CD and DVD/UDFS boot
UDFS also uses El Torito, and is built using the UDFS bridge format
© 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions,
it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation.
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