www.buildwindows.com

Tony MangefesteSenior Program ManagerMicrosoft Corporation

SYS-003T

Designing a simplified boot experience with modern firmware

With UEFI, the boot experience is fast, safe, and beautiful, leading to higher

customer satisfaction and opportunity for product differentiation.

Improving the boot experience

The boot experience today

• Time delay at POST

• Bootkit threats

• Lots of <Fn> key options at boot

• Confusing OS boot menus

• No connection between OS and BIOS boot menus

• BIOS menus circa 1980

• Boot disk size limited to 2.2 TB

Re-imagining the boot experience

• Startup and shutdown is…• Performed by many users on a daily

basis• How many consumers judge PC

performance• Heavily dependent on firmware

• The new boot experience should be• Fast• Tailored• A result of both OS and firmware

innovation

UEFI and Windows 8: A faster way to on

• Looks and feels like a regular shutdown / boot• Leverages hibernate technology to cache the core system• Enabled by default• Delivering considerable improvements

• Boots more than twice as fast on SSD-based netbooks, including POST• Need partners to continue work to reduce POST times

POST

POST

OS InitializationService & App Initialization

Service & App Init

Hiberfile ReadDevice Initialization

Explorer Ready

Explorer Ready

Windows 7

Windows 8

A seamless experienceA new experience, to go with the new time scale

POST Explorer Init.Device

Init.Hiber Resume

2s 4s 6s 7s

OEM Logo

OEM Logo

Seconds

Boot Phase

User View

Clean, high-resolution branding elements persist through OS boot

Post with highest supported native resolution

Seamless single graphics transition from firmware to native OS driver

www.buildwindows.com

Terry ChenSr. Director of EngineeringPhoenix Technologies

Why a new boot experience?

Boot experience today…• Disjointed and inconsistent experience between

POST and OS boot• Displays varying level of fidelity (video mode

switching)• Text error messages targeted for expert users

WINDOWS 8 PROVIDES A NEW EXPERIENCE LIKE AN ELECTRONIC CONSUMER PRODUCT RIGHT FROM THE TIME THE POWER BUTTON IS PRESSED

Boot experience – then and nowCurrent disjoined boot experience

POST OS initialization Post-boot

Explorer Ready

Windows 8 proposed seamless boot experience

POST Hiber resume

Explorer readyDevice S4 Init Post-boot

Simplified boot experience

• Make the transition between BIOS POST and OS startup seamless

• Other key requirements that contribute to a simplified boot experience include• Faster boot experience, including• Shorter BIOS POST time

• Dependency boot• Start Primary Boot device (ex. SATA) only • Other devices in later boot order do not need to be connected

(ex. USB initialized on demand)• Fast Hybrid Boot/Hiber Resume

• Fast responsiveness

How seamless boot works

• Native resolution with GOP

• Clean up POST screen

• Maintain the same high-fidelity video experience through POST and hand it over to OS

• OEM branding and Windows startup screen compounded (Modern Boot)

• Standardizes input method• Escape & Windows Logo Key for Pre-OS Configuration

Note: ACPI next release• The Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)

specification is being updated with several new features

• That specification has not yet been released by its promoters and contributors group

• Windows 8 and BIOS implementations plan to leverage some of these new features

• Until that specification is released to the public, its content is private and cannot be disclosed here

• The following few slides will discuss some of those features in general terms but the details will not be available until the spec is publicly released

• Contact http://acpi.info

ACPI and Modern Boot

• Windows 8 will use a new ACPI table to determine whether or not an OEM logo should be displayed on the screen during OS startup time

• Possible applications of this new table • Keep POST screen clean (with black background) and defer OEM

logo display until OS boot. Combining with OS startup screen (valid bit cleared)

• Display OEM logo in POST but notify OS (valid bit set) no repaint required during OS startup; OS might overrule this and repaint when required

• Dynamic setting of the valid bit in POST based on BIOS POST status• Normal POST with OEM logo shown (with valid bit set)• POST displays special message or question (password or fatal error), then

clean this bit so the OEM logo can be displayed during OS startup

Recommended OEM Look & Feel

• Based on customer research• Modern Boot provides an

opportunity for OEM branding during POST

• Dimensions of logo based on Microsoft recommendations

• Logo size limited (40% of each dimension)

• Location sensitive

Possible variation for seamless bootOEM Options

POST Hiber resume Device S4 Init Post-boot

Windows 8 provides the option for the OEM logo painted during POST is the same logo provided via a new ACPI table• Same requirement in previous page• Provides consistent OEM logo even if OS wants to overrule the valid bit and repaint

Measuring Boot Performance

• Windows 8 provides much better user experience on OS startup, including• Fast boot time• Fast resume

• Another new ACPI table provides a common path for firmware startup time analysis for responsiveness improvement• Previous experience: Utilize dp.efi for POST performance

analysis/improvement, no S3 resume data• New experience: Utilize a new table to track/capture detail time

each driver consumed during POST, including S3 resume data

Windows to go

• Windows 8 offers a new Portable Workspace concept

• Can install and run Windows 8 from an external USB device with Windows 8–supported UEFI firmware

• Is an extension to existing WinPE boot-from-USB

Moving to USB 3.0

• USB 3.0 will be more popular in 2012• Using USB 3.0 devices gives a better Windows 8 experience

• Booting from USB devices is required for “Windows to Go”

• Requires joint effort from different parties• IHV for xHCI controllers• IHV for USB 3.0 devices• IBV for USB 3.0 boot firmware• Native Windows 8 USB 3.0 stack by Microsoft

• Microsoft recommends UEFI Firmware• Class 2 without CSM• Class 3 fully supported

• Customer project schedule may precede Windows 8 launch schedule• Most customers ship with existing Windows 7 or earlier

OSes but ask for Windows 8–compliant or Windows 8–ready on the same BIOS

• Some customers just need Windows 8–ready BIOS without backward support• CSM-less: Pure Class 3 for Windows 8 x64 only

Recap: Why switch to UEFI Native firmware?

UEFI Class 3 or Class 2 without CSM

• Without CSM, no legacy OPROMs are supported; only UEFI OPROMs are supported• UEFI OPROM availability is a must• Native GOP for video• UEFI LAN/RAID/…• Windows 7 UEFI is not legacy free (needs CSM for video)

• Implication for OEM customers• Windows 8 UEFI only• No more DOS support for test/manufacturing tools

Closing Remarks

Call to Action

• Delighting your customer starts with a performance boot experience

• Watch out for pitfalls when deciding to initialize system devices in the pre-OS environment• Deciding which peripherals are needed important• Reserve enablement of others through firmware setup or

hot keys• Form factor determines best case scenario for boot

experiences• Input device selection• Remember the “Windows” Key & ESC

Thank You!

For questions, please visit me in the Speakers Connection area following this session.

© 2011 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to

be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.