BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is the firmware that’s loaded onto a ROM chip (usually EPROM, erasable programmable read-only memory, which lets the manufacturer push updates to you) on the Motherboard.
- BIOS is the first thing the machine runs when you turn on the power.
- The BIOS locates from disk, bootstraps and starts the Boot Loader which loads the kernel into memory.
- BIOS drivers give you very basic control over computer hardware.
- BIOS gives you a GUI for configuring hardware settings.
- BIOS runs the POST Test on machine startup.
- The BIOS on different motherboards are likely implemented differently.
See UEFI, which is basically the newer and better alternative to BIOS that ships with most new motherboards.
The BIOS GUI:
