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In computing, BIOS (/ ˈ b aɪ ɒ s,-oʊ s /, BY-oss, -ohss; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is a type of firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the booting process (power-on startup). [1]
On system with BIOS firmware, the BIOS invokes MBR boot code from a hard disk drive at startup. The MBR boot code and the VBR boot code are OS-specific. In Microsoft Windows, the MBR boot code tries to find an active partition (the MBR is only 512 bytes), then executes the VBR boot code of an active partition.
As of February 2025, Windows 10 is the most used version of Windows, accounting for 58.83% of the worldwide market share, while its successor Windows 11, holds 38%. [27] Windows 10 is the most-used traditional PC operating system, with a 46% share of users. [28] It was succeeded by Windows 11, which was released on October 5, 2021. [29]
Windows 10 version 1709: Redstone 3 October 17, 2017 1709 16299 April 9, 2019 Windows 10 version 1803: Redstone 4 April 30, 2018 1803 17134 November 12, 2019 Windows 10 version 1809: Redstone 5 November 13, 2018 1809 17763 November 10, 2020 Windows 10 version 1903: 19H1 May 21, 2019 1903 18362 December 8, 2020 Windows 10 version 1909: Vanadium
System Locked Pre-installation (SLP), also referred to as OEM Activation, is a product activation procedure for Microsoft Windows used by major OEMs of laptops and pre-built PCs wherein a Windows product key is added and locked to the machine's firmware before mass distribution.
Windows 10 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft.Microsoft described Windows 10 as an "operating system as a service" that would receive ongoing updates to its features and functionality, augmented with the ability for enterprise environments to receive non-critical updates at a slower pace or use long-term support milestones that will only receive ...
The original motivation for EFI came during early development of the first Intel–HP Itanium systems in the mid-1990s. BIOS limitations (such as 16-bit real mode, 1 MB addressable memory space, [7] assembly language programming, and PC AT hardware) had become too restrictive for the larger server platforms Itanium was targeting. [8]
Version 2.0 of the Desktop Management BIOS specification was released on March 6, 1996 by American Megatrends (AMI), Award Software, Dell, Intel, Phoenix Technologies, and SystemSoft Corporation. It introduced 16-bit plug-and-play functions used to access the structures from Windows 95.