Is the term “BIOS” still prevalent when referring to UEFI?
First of all, I am not sure whether this belongs to programming SE or in here- because I am asking about the usage of terms in English language, I decided to ask on here.
I was chatting to my brother about IT related things. I mentioned changing BIOS settings, and he said I should stop calling it "BIOS" (Basic Input Output System), and start saying "UEFI" (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), which has pretty much replaced BIOS by now. This left me wondering: is "BIOS" still more prevalent than "UEFI"? Are there perhaps differences between US/EU English usage?
It's pretty obvious just from a cursory glance at Google that loads of tutorials, how-to's and blogs still use the word "BIOS", often in conjunction with UEFI or EFI. I also tried Google Trends but I worry that the search term "bios" is a duplicate of "biographies" so I am not confident that the results are valid. Any pointers as to the common usage of BIOS/UEFI would be appreciated.
history
asked Jan 5 at 13:00
martsmarts
1536
migrated from english.stackexchange.com Jan 14 at 13:21
This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.
|
show 2 more comments
First of all, I am not sure whether this belongs to programming SE or in here- because I am asking about the usage of terms in English language, I decided to ask on here.
I was chatting to my brother about IT related things. I mentioned changing BIOS settings, and he said I should stop calling it "BIOS" (Basic Input Output System), and start saying "UEFI" (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), which has pretty much replaced BIOS by now. This left me wondering: is "BIOS" still more prevalent than "UEFI"? Are there perhaps differences between US/EU English usage?
It's pretty obvious just from a cursory glance at Google that loads of tutorials, how-to's and blogs still use the word "BIOS", often in conjunction with UEFI or EFI. I also tried Google Trends but I worry that the search term "bios" is a duplicate of "biographies" so I am not confident that the results are valid. Any pointers as to the common usage of BIOS/UEFI would be appreciated.
history
asked Jan 5 at 13:00
martsmarts
1536
migrated from english.stackexchange.com Jan 14 at 13:21
This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.
2
I'm a retired computer nerd/EE (who is admittedly not super current on terminology), but I've never heard of "UEFI". "EFI" a little bit, I think. But pretty much anyone who has mucked with computers for a few years at least has a vague understanding of "BIOS" (if only to know to shudder when someone says "You'll have to reload your BIOS").
– Daniel R Hicks
Jan 5 at 13:21
1
Even though this ostensibly could be relevant to ELU (the history of particular acronym uses in English), it's so steeped in technology culture itself that a culture specific SE site would probably get more knowledgable answers. The question really isn't about the acronym but the prevalence of the technology itself.
– Mitch
Jan 5 at 14:08
I think most reasonably computer-savvy people probably have an inkling that the BIOS is ‘that thing you can enter by holding down some key (combo) when you start the computer, and which comes before the OS and controls stuff like how various hardware is loaded’. Most people would call that a BIOS, I think, whether that is an actual BIOS or something else like UEFI or OF. I’m aware that there’s a difference (though not wherein the actual difference lies), and I would still just call it a BIOS for simplicity. I might even call it an UEFI BIOS to indicate both type and function.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Jan 5 at 14:13
@Mitch I don’t think the question is really about the technology. It’s more akin to how we still ‘dial’ someone’s number (even though there’s no longer a dial on our phones), etc., and whether ‘BIOS’ has become a similarly disassociated, genericised (for lack of a better term) word that is just to describe something, even if it isn’t actually that thing anymore. An authoritative ELU answer should be possible, though I daresay it won’t be an easy one to substantiate.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Jan 5 at 15:09
@JanusBahsJacquet Understood. All very technical. Like asking how people understand what a 'ring' is in math (is multiplication always commutative in a generic ring or do you have to specify). Probably best answered by that particular technical community rather than general English.
– Mitch
Jan 5 at 15:44
|
show 2 more comments
First of all, I am not sure whether this belongs to programming SE or in here- because I am asking about the usage of terms in English language, I decided to ask on here.
I was chatting to my brother about IT related things. I mentioned changing BIOS settings, and he said I should stop calling it "BIOS" (Basic Input Output System), and start saying "UEFI" (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), which has pretty much replaced BIOS by now. This left me wondering: is "BIOS" still more prevalent than "UEFI"? Are there perhaps differences between US/EU English usage?
It's pretty obvious just from a cursory glance at Google that loads of tutorials, how-to's and blogs still use the word "BIOS", often in conjunction with UEFI or EFI. I also tried Google Trends but I worry that the search term "bios" is a duplicate of "biographies" so I am not confident that the results are valid. Any pointers as to the common usage of BIOS/UEFI would be appreciated.
history
asked Jan 5 at 13:00
martsmarts
1536
First of all, I am not sure whether this belongs to programming SE or in here- because I am asking about the usage of terms in English language, I decided to ask on here.
I was chatting to my brother about IT related things. I mentioned changing BIOS settings, and he said I should stop calling it "BIOS" (Basic Input Output System), and start saying "UEFI" (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), which has pretty much replaced BIOS by now. This left me wondering: is "BIOS" still more prevalent than "UEFI"? Are there perhaps differences between US/EU English usage?
It's pretty obvious just from a cursory glance at Google that loads of tutorials, how-to's and blogs still use the word "BIOS", often in conjunction with UEFI or EFI. I also tried Google Trends but I worry that the search term "bios" is a duplicate of "biographies" so I am not confident that the results are valid. Any pointers as to the common usage of BIOS/UEFI would be appreciated.
history
history
asked Jan 5 at 13:00
martsmarts
1536
asked Jan 5 at 13:00
martsmarts
1536
asked Jan 5 at 13:00
martsmarts
1536
asked Jan 5 at 13:00
martsmarts
1536
asked Jan 5 at 13:00
martsmarts
1536
1536
migrated from english.stackexchange.com Jan 14 at 13:21
This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.
migrated from english.stackexchange.com Jan 14 at 13:21
This question came from our site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.
2
I'm a retired computer nerd/EE (who is admittedly not super current on terminology), but I've never heard of "UEFI". "EFI" a little bit, I think. But pretty much anyone who has mucked with computers for a few years at least has a vague understanding of "BIOS" (if only to know to shudder when someone says "You'll have to reload your BIOS").
– Daniel R Hicks
Jan 5 at 13:21
1
Even though this ostensibly could be relevant to ELU (the history of particular acronym uses in English), it's so steeped in technology culture itself that a culture specific SE site would probably get more knowledgable answers. The question really isn't about the acronym but the prevalence of the technology itself.
– Mitch
Jan 5 at 14:08
I think most reasonably computer-savvy people probably have an inkling that the BIOS is ‘that thing you can enter by holding down some key (combo) when you start the computer, and which comes before the OS and controls stuff like how various hardware is loaded’. Most people would call that a BIOS, I think, whether that is an actual BIOS or something else like UEFI or OF. I’m aware that there’s a difference (though not wherein the actual difference lies), and I would still just call it a BIOS for simplicity. I might even call it an UEFI BIOS to indicate both type and function.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Jan 5 at 14:13
@Mitch I don’t think the question is really about the technology. It’s more akin to how we still ‘dial’ someone’s number (even though there’s no longer a dial on our phones), etc., and whether ‘BIOS’ has become a similarly disassociated, genericised (for lack of a better term) word that is just to describe something, even if it isn’t actually that thing anymore. An authoritative ELU answer should be possible, though I daresay it won’t be an easy one to substantiate.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Jan 5 at 15:09
@JanusBahsJacquet Understood. All very technical. Like asking how people understand what a 'ring' is in math (is multiplication always commutative in a generic ring or do you have to specify). Probably best answered by that particular technical community rather than general English.
– Mitch
Jan 5 at 15:44
|
show 2 more comments
2
I'm a retired computer nerd/EE (who is admittedly not super current on terminology), but I've never heard of "UEFI". "EFI" a little bit, I think. But pretty much anyone who has mucked with computers for a few years at least has a vague understanding of "BIOS" (if only to know to shudder when someone says "You'll have to reload your BIOS").
– Daniel R Hicks
Jan 5 at 13:21
1
Even though this ostensibly could be relevant to ELU (the history of particular acronym uses in English), it's so steeped in technology culture itself that a culture specific SE site would probably get more knowledgable answers. The question really isn't about the acronym but the prevalence of the technology itself.
– Mitch
Jan 5 at 14:08
I think most reasonably computer-savvy people probably have an inkling that the BIOS is ‘that thing you can enter by holding down some key (combo) when you start the computer, and which comes before the OS and controls stuff like how various hardware is loaded’. Most people would call that a BIOS, I think, whether that is an actual BIOS or something else like UEFI or OF. I’m aware that there’s a difference (though not wherein the actual difference lies), and I would still just call it a BIOS for simplicity. I might even call it an UEFI BIOS to indicate both type and function.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Jan 5 at 14:13
@Mitch I don’t think the question is really about the technology. It’s more akin to how we still ‘dial’ someone’s number (even though there’s no longer a dial on our phones), etc., and whether ‘BIOS’ has become a similarly disassociated, genericised (for lack of a better term) word that is just to describe something, even if it isn’t actually that thing anymore. An authoritative ELU answer should be possible, though I daresay it won’t be an easy one to substantiate.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Jan 5 at 15:09
@JanusBahsJacquet Understood. All very technical. Like asking how people understand what a 'ring' is in math (is multiplication always commutative in a generic ring or do you have to specify). Probably best answered by that particular technical community rather than general English.
– Mitch
Jan 5 at 15:44
2
2
I'm a retired computer nerd/EE (who is admittedly not super current on terminology), but I've never heard of "UEFI". "EFI" a little bit, I think. But pretty much anyone who has mucked with computers for a few years at least has a vague understanding of "BIOS" (if only to know to shudder when someone says "You'll have to reload your BIOS").
– Daniel R Hicks
Jan 5 at 13:21
I'm a retired computer nerd/EE (who is admittedly not super current on terminology), but I've never heard of "UEFI". "EFI" a little bit, I think. But pretty much anyone who has mucked with computers for a few years at least has a vague understanding of "BIOS" (if only to know to shudder when someone says "You'll have to reload your BIOS").
– Daniel R Hicks
Jan 5 at 13:21
1
1
Even though this ostensibly could be relevant to ELU (the history of particular acronym uses in English), it's so steeped in technology culture itself that a culture specific SE site would probably get more knowledgable answers. The question really isn't about the acronym but the prevalence of the technology itself.
– Mitch
Jan 5 at 14:08
Even though this ostensibly could be relevant to ELU (the history of particular acronym uses in English), it's so steeped in technology culture itself that a culture specific SE site would probably get more knowledgable answers. The question really isn't about the acronym but the prevalence of the technology itself.
– Mitch
Jan 5 at 14:08
I think most reasonably computer-savvy people probably have an inkling that the BIOS is ‘that thing you can enter by holding down some key (combo) when you start the computer, and which comes before the OS and controls stuff like how various hardware is loaded’. Most people would call that a BIOS, I think, whether that is an actual BIOS or something else like UEFI or OF. I’m aware that there’s a difference (though not wherein the actual difference lies), and I would still just call it a BIOS for simplicity. I might even call it an UEFI BIOS to indicate both type and function.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Jan 5 at 14:13
I think most reasonably computer-savvy people probably have an inkling that the BIOS is ‘that thing you can enter by holding down some key (combo) when you start the computer, and which comes before the OS and controls stuff like how various hardware is loaded’. Most people would call that a BIOS, I think, whether that is an actual BIOS or something else like UEFI or OF. I’m aware that there’s a difference (though not wherein the actual difference lies), and I would still just call it a BIOS for simplicity. I might even call it an UEFI BIOS to indicate both type and function.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Jan 5 at 14:13
@Mitch I don’t think the question is really about the technology. It’s more akin to how we still ‘dial’ someone’s number (even though there’s no longer a dial on our phones), etc., and whether ‘BIOS’ has become a similarly disassociated, genericised (for lack of a better term) word that is just to describe something, even if it isn’t actually that thing anymore. An authoritative ELU answer should be possible, though I daresay it won’t be an easy one to substantiate.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Jan 5 at 15:09
@Mitch I don’t think the question is really about the technology. It’s more akin to how we still ‘dial’ someone’s number (even though there’s no longer a dial on our phones), etc., and whether ‘BIOS’ has become a similarly disassociated, genericised (for lack of a better term) word that is just to describe something, even if it isn’t actually that thing anymore. An authoritative ELU answer should be possible, though I daresay it won’t be an easy one to substantiate.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Jan 5 at 15:09
@JanusBahsJacquet Understood. All very technical. Like asking how people understand what a 'ring' is in math (is multiplication always commutative in a generic ring or do you have to specify). Probably best answered by that particular technical community rather than general English.
– Mitch
Jan 5 at 15:44
@JanusBahsJacquet Understood. All very technical. Like asking how people understand what a 'ring' is in math (is multiplication always commutative in a generic ring or do you have to specify). Probably best answered by that particular technical community rather than general English.
– Mitch
Jan 5 at 15:44
|
show 2 more comments
1 Answer
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Yes.
Since BIOS is just an acronym for Basic Input/Output System, and has been used for the last 44 years (since 1975 according to Wikipedia)
The term BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) was created by Gary Kildall and first appeared in the CP/M operating system in 1975, describing the machine-specific part of CP/M loaded during boot time that interfaces directly with the hardware.
And since I know computers haven't been using CP/M exclusively for the last 44 years (it's latest release was in 1983; 36 years ago), the name BIOS has been applied to virtually every new Basic Input/Output System since 1983 regardless of how new & different they are and what new features they have, I see no need to suddenly start calling the latest system anything different.
Just because the latest system is technically called a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), it still does the same basic job, and I'm still going to call it a Basic Input/Output System, or BIOS.
As an example, just because a new Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever + Poodle) knows a lot of new tricks that an old Husky or mutt doesn't, I'm not going to stop calling them both dogs.
answered Jan 17 at 0:31
Xen2050Xen2050
10.5k31536
add a comment |
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Yes.
Since BIOS is just an acronym for Basic Input/Output System, and has been used for the last 44 years (since 1975 according to Wikipedia)
The term BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) was created by Gary Kildall and first appeared in the CP/M operating system in 1975, describing the machine-specific part of CP/M loaded during boot time that interfaces directly with the hardware.
And since I know computers haven't been using CP/M exclusively for the last 44 years (it's latest release was in 1983; 36 years ago), the name BIOS has been applied to virtually every new Basic Input/Output System since 1983 regardless of how new & different they are and what new features they have, I see no need to suddenly start calling the latest system anything different.
Just because the latest system is technically called a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), it still does the same basic job, and I'm still going to call it a Basic Input/Output System, or BIOS.
As an example, just because a new Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever + Poodle) knows a lot of new tricks that an old Husky or mutt doesn't, I'm not going to stop calling them both dogs.
answered Jan 17 at 0:31
Xen2050Xen2050
10.5k31536
add a comment |
Yes.
Since BIOS is just an acronym for Basic Input/Output System, and has been used for the last 44 years (since 1975 according to Wikipedia)
The term BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) was created by Gary Kildall and first appeared in the CP/M operating system in 1975, describing the machine-specific part of CP/M loaded during boot time that interfaces directly with the hardware.
And since I know computers haven't been using CP/M exclusively for the last 44 years (it's latest release was in 1983; 36 years ago), the name BIOS has been applied to virtually every new Basic Input/Output System since 1983 regardless of how new & different they are and what new features they have, I see no need to suddenly start calling the latest system anything different.
Just because the latest system is technically called a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), it still does the same basic job, and I'm still going to call it a Basic Input/Output System, or BIOS.
As an example, just because a new Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever + Poodle) knows a lot of new tricks that an old Husky or mutt doesn't, I'm not going to stop calling them both dogs.
answered Jan 17 at 0:31
Xen2050Xen2050
10.5k31536
add a comment |
Yes.
Since BIOS is just an acronym for Basic Input/Output System, and has been used for the last 44 years (since 1975 according to Wikipedia)
The term BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) was created by Gary Kildall and first appeared in the CP/M operating system in 1975, describing the machine-specific part of CP/M loaded during boot time that interfaces directly with the hardware.
And since I know computers haven't been using CP/M exclusively for the last 44 years (it's latest release was in 1983; 36 years ago), the name BIOS has been applied to virtually every new Basic Input/Output System since 1983 regardless of how new & different they are and what new features they have, I see no need to suddenly start calling the latest system anything different.
Just because the latest system is technically called a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), it still does the same basic job, and I'm still going to call it a Basic Input/Output System, or BIOS.
As an example, just because a new Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever + Poodle) knows a lot of new tricks that an old Husky or mutt doesn't, I'm not going to stop calling them both dogs.
answered Jan 17 at 0:31
Xen2050Xen2050
10.5k31536
Yes.
Since BIOS is just an acronym for Basic Input/Output System, and has been used for the last 44 years (since 1975 according to Wikipedia)
The term BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) was created by Gary Kildall and first appeared in the CP/M operating system in 1975, describing the machine-specific part of CP/M loaded during boot time that interfaces directly with the hardware.
And since I know computers haven't been using CP/M exclusively for the last 44 years (it's latest release was in 1983; 36 years ago), the name BIOS has been applied to virtually every new Basic Input/Output System since 1983 regardless of how new & different they are and what new features they have, I see no need to suddenly start calling the latest system anything different.
Just because the latest system is technically called a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), it still does the same basic job, and I'm still going to call it a Basic Input/Output System, or BIOS.
As an example, just because a new Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever + Poodle) knows a lot of new tricks that an old Husky or mutt doesn't, I'm not going to stop calling them both dogs.
answered Jan 17 at 0:31
Xen2050Xen2050
10.5k31536
answered Jan 17 at 0:31
Xen2050Xen2050
10.5k31536
answered Jan 17 at 0:31
Xen2050Xen2050
10.5k31536
answered Jan 17 at 0:31
Xen2050Xen2050
10.5k31536
10.5k31536
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2
I'm a retired computer nerd/EE (who is admittedly not super current on terminology), but I've never heard of "UEFI". "EFI" a little bit, I think. But pretty much anyone who has mucked with computers for a few years at least has a vague understanding of "BIOS" (if only to know to shudder when someone says "You'll have to reload your BIOS").
– Daniel R Hicks
Jan 5 at 13:21
1
Even though this ostensibly could be relevant to ELU (the history of particular acronym uses in English), it's so steeped in technology culture itself that a culture specific SE site would probably get more knowledgable answers. The question really isn't about the acronym but the prevalence of the technology itself.
– Mitch
Jan 5 at 14:08
I think most reasonably computer-savvy people probably have an inkling that the BIOS is ‘that thing you can enter by holding down some key (combo) when you start the computer, and which comes before the OS and controls stuff like how various hardware is loaded’. Most people would call that a BIOS, I think, whether that is an actual BIOS or something else like UEFI or OF. I’m aware that there’s a difference (though not wherein the actual difference lies), and I would still just call it a BIOS for simplicity. I might even call it an UEFI BIOS to indicate both type and function.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Jan 5 at 14:13
@Mitch I don’t think the question is really about the technology. It’s more akin to how we still ‘dial’ someone’s number (even though there’s no longer a dial on our phones), etc., and whether ‘BIOS’ has become a similarly disassociated, genericised (for lack of a better term) word that is just to describe something, even if it isn’t actually that thing anymore. An authoritative ELU answer should be possible, though I daresay it won’t be an easy one to substantiate.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Jan 5 at 15:09
@JanusBahsJacquet Understood. All very technical. Like asking how people understand what a 'ring' is in math (is multiplication always commutative in a generic ring or do you have to specify). Probably best answered by that particular technical community rather than general English.
– Mitch
Jan 5 at 15:44