Short for Extensible Firmware Interface, EFI is a new firmware standard developed by Intel and introduced with the release of IA-64 that greatly improves the features available in the BIOS. The EFI specification was made into a general standard known as UEFI.

EFI changes

  • Getting rid of the boot loader, allowing the firmware to select the operating system.
  • EFI enables vendors to create drivers that cannot be reverse engineered.
  • Contains a small shell that runs at boot, allowing a small and manageable working environment without anything on the computer.

BIOS, Computer acronyms, Firmware, GPT, Motherboard terms

  • Motherboard help and support.
  • The official Intel EFI specification page.