BIOS and UEFI Basics

BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)

older version supports 32-bit processors and motherboards
program CPU will use when device is first powered on
stored on firmware as part of motherboard

Firmware (Software-on-a-chip) - contains specialized BIOS program code in flash memory on the motherboard

UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface)

updated form of BIOS that allows keyboard and mouse as input and provides GUI (graphical user interface)
supports 64-bit processors and provides graphical user interface
network functionality
much better security features
embedded or installed onto motherboard
supports larger HDDs and SSDs
supports newer GUID partition table format which is known as the GPT
tends to be faster during boot process
uses larger size ROM

PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) - about enabling a computer to boot from a network server before the operating system is loaded, which requires configuring settings that are typically found in the BIOS or UEFI firmware, not in the Windows environment

industry standard client/server interface that allows networked computers that are not yet loaded with an OS to be configured and booted remotely by an admin