Customizing the UEFI boot process
Smart Startup
The traditional BIOS dates back decades and has not been able to keep up with the rapid development of PCs and laptops. Its powerful successor UEFI takes over its tasks and provides more features, more convenience, and better security.
Since 1981, PCs have booted with the help of the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS). Over the years, different manufacturers have continued to expand the BIOS firmware system, but even after all this time, the BIOS system is difficult to adjust and still does not support 64-bit operation.
Back in the late 1992, Intel launched a new initiative to replace the venerable BIOS system with a 64-bit alternative. This Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) initiative became the Unified EFI (UEFI) Forum in 2005. In addition to Intel, AMD, Microsoft, HP, and other prominent vendors contributed to the UEFI project.
UEFI describes the interface between a computer's firmware and operating system. Like BIOS, the UEFI implementation initializes the hardware components to prepare the launch of the operating system. However, UEFI natively supports 64-bit architectures, enables graphical user interfaces, and can protect against malicious software by only allowing signed operating systems (a feature that has come to be known as Secure Boot).
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.