Building Out the BIOS
Innocuous Software Layer Aims to Become a Major Platform
By Roger L. Kay
A small news item March 27 noted that Phoenix Technologies agreed to buy BeInSync, a private
Israeli software company, for an undisclosed sum. BeInSync provides peer-to-peer technology
that keeps files synchronized between different network-connected computers. On the surface,
this announcement was fairly unremarkable, and news outlets that did cover it remarked with a
terse paragraph or two.
But there is something afoot here that deserves a second look. Most people outside the
computer industry haven’t ever heard of Phoenix, and even some insiders are barely aware that
Phoenix is pretty much all that remains of a handful of companies that created something called
the BIOS early in the development of the personal computer. Essentially, the BIOS is a little
chunk of software, stored in read-only memory on the motherboard, that comes to life when the
computer is first turned on. It takes an inventory of all the hardware elements in the system,
initializes them so they can be referenced, and calls the operating system (OS). Once the OS
takes over, the BIOS goes out of business.
This little piece of plumbing has been doing its job unheralded for more than 25 years. The only
awareness most people have of it is that funny mono-width white font that comes up on the
otherwise black screen right at boot, plastering up phrases and writing over them so quickly that
they are mostly unreadable, things about RAID configuration, and hit F11 to review boot options,
and other largely cryptic notes. Then, the Windows screen splashes, and color and graphics
arrive as the OS grabs control.
Over the years, BIOS companies have merged or been absorbed. Part of the issue was that
many of their major customers, the PC hardware OEMs, paid large one-time licensing fees to
take the base code and modify it to their hearts’ content ever after. Although these transactions
created a windfall at the time, they ended the annuity stream. Only smaller players continued to
pay volume-based license fees. So, Phoenix set out to recreate its mission, choosing to pursue
security as the next job of the BIOS. The company reasoned, soundly enough, that security had
to cover the layer below the OS, that is, the BIOS, or else the system could be compromised
from below.
This course of action led Phoenix to a near-death experience a couple of years ago, as the rest
of the industry turned toward other methods of handling the same issues, most notably toward
security standards promulgated by the Trusted Computing Group, an industry body composed
of all the major computer manufacturers and their suppliers. After a management change,
Phoenix modified its plans, and recently has been looking at ways to make the BIOS more
relevant in today’s world.
The new strategy involves embedding in the BIOS little applets that can run without the OS
booting at all. In the context of increasingly heavyweight OSs, notably Windows Vista, this
functionality can be quite desirable. So far, Phoenix has put together a product called
HyperSpace that creates a virtual environment below the OS from which light-weight, instant-on
applications can be launched directly. These apps can run independently before, during, or after
a Windows session.
The company has already announced a multimedia suite, developed with CyberLink, that will
enable a PC to operate as an instant-on multi-media appliance (all while using a fraction of the
battery power of Windows). Phoenix has also announced a support application, to be delivered
through a partnership with SupportSoft, that allows an IT manager to repair a hosed Windows
PC remotely. Since HyperSpace and its applications run in their own partition, the support tool
can work on the Windows partition even if Windows is unbootable. Phoenix envisions building
out this functionality to include a browser, a simplified office suite, messaging, VoIP, and email.
It begs the obvious, but if you can do all these things with an instant-on appliance that’s fast and
unbreakable, what do you need an OS for? The resurrection of Phoenix can be viewed in the
context in which it’s happening. Windows Vista is particularly heavyweight and cumbersome,
and users are aching for an alternative. In this environment, Apple has been gaining traction
with Mac OS X, Google has been appealing to users to access apps in the cloud with a browser,
and more sophisticated users are giving Linux another hard look. Phoenix has owned the little
layer below the OS for years. Now, that strip of sediment is turning into a volcano underneath
the OS.
Of course, you still need Windows to run the vast array of PC applications, but HyperSpace can
coexist peacefully with Windows, leaving untouched the positive parts of the Windows
experience while delivering a fast, predictable, bulletproof experience on the top half dozen
functions.
© 2008 Endpoint Technologies Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
Israeli software company, for an undisclosed sum. BeInSync provides peer-to-peer technology
that keeps files synchronized between different network-connected computers. On the surface,
this announcement was fairly unremarkable, and news outlets that did cover it remarked with a
terse paragraph or two.
But there is something afoot here that deserves a second look. Most people outside the
computer industry haven’t ever heard of Phoenix, and even some insiders are barely aware that
Phoenix is pretty much all that remains of a handful of companies that created something called
the BIOS early in the development of the personal computer. Essentially, the BIOS is a little
chunk of software, stored in read-only memory on the motherboard, that comes to life when the
computer is first turned on. It takes an inventory of all the hardware elements in the system,
initializes them so they can be referenced, and calls the operating system (OS). Once the OS
takes over, the BIOS goes out of business.
This little piece of plumbing has been doing its job unheralded for more than 25 years. The only
awareness most people have of it is that funny mono-width white font that comes up on the
otherwise black screen right at boot, plastering up phrases and writing over them so quickly that
they are mostly unreadable, things about RAID configuration, and hit F11 to review boot options,
and other largely cryptic notes. Then, the Windows screen splashes, and color and graphics
arrive as the OS grabs control.
Over the years, BIOS companies have merged or been absorbed. Part of the issue was that
many of their major customers, the PC hardware OEMs, paid large one-time licensing fees to
take the base code and modify it to their hearts’ content ever after. Although these transactions
created a windfall at the time, they ended the annuity stream. Only smaller players continued to
pay volume-based license fees. So, Phoenix set out to recreate its mission, choosing to pursue
security as the next job of the BIOS. The company reasoned, soundly enough, that security had
to cover the layer below the OS, that is, the BIOS, or else the system could be compromised
from below.
This course of action led Phoenix to a near-death experience a couple of years ago, as the rest
of the industry turned toward other methods of handling the same issues, most notably toward
security standards promulgated by the Trusted Computing Group, an industry body composed
of all the major computer manufacturers and their suppliers. After a management change,
Phoenix modified its plans, and recently has been looking at ways to make the BIOS more
relevant in today’s world.
The new strategy involves embedding in the BIOS little applets that can run without the OS
booting at all. In the context of increasingly heavyweight OSs, notably Windows Vista, this
functionality can be quite desirable. So far, Phoenix has put together a product called
HyperSpace that creates a virtual environment below the OS from which light-weight, instant-on
applications can be launched directly. These apps can run independently before, during, or after
a Windows session.
The company has already announced a multimedia suite, developed with CyberLink, that will
enable a PC to operate as an instant-on multi-media appliance (all while using a fraction of the
battery power of Windows). Phoenix has also announced a support application, to be delivered
through a partnership with SupportSoft, that allows an IT manager to repair a hosed Windows
PC remotely. Since HyperSpace and its applications run in their own partition, the support tool
can work on the Windows partition even if Windows is unbootable. Phoenix envisions building
out this functionality to include a browser, a simplified office suite, messaging, VoIP, and email.
It begs the obvious, but if you can do all these things with an instant-on appliance that’s fast and
unbreakable, what do you need an OS for? The resurrection of Phoenix can be viewed in the
context in which it’s happening. Windows Vista is particularly heavyweight and cumbersome,
and users are aching for an alternative. In this environment, Apple has been gaining traction
with Mac OS X, Google has been appealing to users to access apps in the cloud with a browser,
and more sophisticated users are giving Linux another hard look. Phoenix has owned the little
layer below the OS for years. Now, that strip of sediment is turning into a volcano underneath
the OS.
Of course, you still need Windows to run the vast array of PC applications, but HyperSpace can
coexist peacefully with Windows, leaving untouched the positive parts of the Windows
experience while delivering a fast, predictable, bulletproof experience on the top half dozen
functions.
© 2008 Endpoint Technologies Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Volcano Under the OS
 |
| |
 |