B.I.O.S. to lock out non-Windows code ?

Mon Oct 6 10:34:44 UTC 2003

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http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/developer/0,39020387,39116902,00.htm

Microsoft moves to integrate Windows with BIOS

Matthew Broersma

ZDNet UK

October 03, 2003, 17:25 BST

Tell us your opinion

A deal with BIOS maker Phoenix Technologies would
allow the operating system to directly control hardware. It also raises
concerns over who controls the software in PCs

Microsoft has expanded its relationship with BIOS maker Phoenix
Technologies in a deal designed to more closely integrate the basic
building blocks of the PC with the Windows operating system.

The relationship, announced this week, is designed to make PCs simpler
and more reliable, the companies said. The move is likely to put
consumer rights advocates on their guard, however, since both Microsoft
and Phoenix are involved in plans to integrate digital rights management
(DRM) technology at the operating system and hardware level. DRM is
designed to give copyright owners more control over how users make use
of software and content, but has been criticised as eroding consumer
rights.

A BIOS, or basic input/output system, is the software that ties the
operating system to a PC's hardware. Traditionally, it has carried out
basic tasks such as hardware and system configuration, and has been
standardised and simple enough to allow the installation of alternative
operating systems, including Linux.

Phoenix's Core System Software (CSS) is a next-generation BIOS with a
more sophisticated integration of operating system and hardware, for
example making it easier for system administrators to remotely monitor
the hardware configurations of their systems. CSS is designed for non-PC
systems such as blade servers and embedded industrial devices as well as
traditional desktops.

Microsoft said integration should mean simpler and more reliable
computers. "This is a pivotal change for the industry, and it will
rapidly advance serviceability, deployment, and management for servers,
mobile devices, and desktops," said Microsoft general manager of Windows
hardware Tom Phillips, in a statement. "Effectively, Phoenix is creating
an entirely new category of system software."

Microsoft said the next-generation BIOS would allow future versions of
Windows to manage server blades when they are connected to a system,
without needing to be turned on. The BIOS would also allow better
control of unauthorised devices connected to a system, Microsoft said.

Phoenix is one of the biggest BIOS providers, its customers including
four of the top five PC manufacturers. Its products are also used by
consumer electronics makers such as Pioneer, Matsushita, Sony and
Toshiba.

Both Microsoft and Phoenix are currently arguing for closer integration
of Windows with PC hardware, and DRM integrated throughout. Microsoft is
planning to tie Windows DRM features to the hardware platform via its
controversial Next Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB) project,
formerly known as Palladium. NGSCB is associated with the next version
of Windows, code-named Longhorn, which is due in about two years' time.

Phoenix recently said it is touting round a BIOS with built-in DRM
technology to major PC manufacturers. In September the company said it
had developed a prototype of its Core Management Engine (CME) including
DRM from Orbid. The DRM technology would allow content providers to
identify which PCs and devices were authorised to play particular files,
more effectively controlling content distribution, file-trading and
moving software from one machine to another, according to Phoenix.

Phoenix said the DRM-enabled CME was not part of Microsoft's NGSCB, but
that the technology was complementary. The CME would allow PC makers to
embed digital rights management directly into the hardware, though they
would have the option of allowing users to turn it off.

Consumer electronics makers are particularly interested in the
technology, according to Phoenix.

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Tell us your opinion

Bull. To put it mildly. Anyone with half a brain
(and NOT in BIOS...
Jeff Partridge

Microsoft's plan to integrate the operating system with the BIOS ...
Phil A

OH, GREAT. Soon we'll have viruses infecting not only our OS a...
Anonymous

Can't they keep their hands off of anything? I've got a bad feeli...
Jeff A.

Ok..it takes A LOT to scare me. This scares me.
Dan

They are trying to rule the wold but will fail. Most businesses a...
Anonymous

Gatezooks Batman! Can Bill be stealing another Apple idea? Ap...
Michel Levesque

Phoenix is only one of the many global organsations working to ex...
Adebayo Omo-Dare

An attempt to squelch Linux? Hm... They're not scared of the co...
Laura

just boycot any mobo with that bios.. that takes care of that..
joeldg

This article is about to get posted on slashdot, hang on to your ...
Anonymous

"The BIOS would also allow better control of unauthorised devices...
Jim Storch

Wow, that's the last Phoenix bios I buy, shame too, I've been a l...
edfardos

Good news! Microsoft is trying to take over yet another techn...
Anonymous

As Michel Levesque said, Apple has been doing this for years, in ...
John Thurlow

someone need to shurdown Microsoft. I hope some groups of peop...
Anonymous

The anti-MS sentiments here are pathetic... Microsoft is a busine...
Anonymous

I flat out refuse to buy a motherboard with a Windows Integrated ...
Sean Darrenkamp

Uhhhh ....it´s gonna be messy I´d guess . I very much have the...
Winston Graeme

might want to spell authorized as authorized and not authorised.
Anonymous

This is ZDNet.co.uk. In the UK authorized is spelt authorised.
Anonymous

Thats opening the door to windows virus that will kill the system...
blackcomb

Re: What Apple does When Microsoft startes making its own bios...
Anonymous

First SCO kernel lawsuits... now this? What's next Microsoft Onl...
Gill Bates

Provided versions of the BIOS are made available which run OS's ...
Anonymous

If people can get around all the MS-Specific stuff in the XBox, I...
Jerry Leik

I beg your pardon, but doesn't this run afoul of the US anti-trus...
Anonymous

And I thought the only advantage DOS had over CP/M was the BIOS w...
Mark Harvey

R.E: Matthew Broersma You make it sound like Microsoft are for...
Anonymous

We are borg; you are fud. Our daily mantra here at microbasicinpu...
LinuxIsOverRated

I do not like this one bit at all. Microsoft is being very mon...
Matt S.

I believe, Microsoft will not be able to do such a thing. Firstl...
Nitrocloud

I would just like to know if when Microsoft says that this will h...
Eric Damron

Time to develop an open-source hardware platform that uses FPGA's...
g salter

Oh.. right.. so another bribe underway. Whats next, cpu's which ...
Gunblade

This stinks. What about the settlement reach regarding MS's anti...
Anonymous

This is the most selfish thing I heard since I found out that ph...
Kris mason

It's not complicated that problem its what we call controling peo...
Michel Plante

The Apple model is actually different. They provide the ROM, mot...
Anonymous

*sniff sniff* I smell IBM and MCA here..wonder if MS will figure...
Doug Mayfield

What Microsoft and Phoenix are doing is very similar to what Appl...
Ezra

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