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To: Petronski
I believe BIOS is not technically hardware or software, but rather 'firmware.' In most respects, it is more like software than hardware.

No. The bios is software. PERIOD. The bios is a series of commands executed by the computer that control the functioning of the hardware - which is the definition of software.

Firmware refers to the method in which the SOFTWARE is stored. Software on a hard disk or a floppy disk or any writable media can be charged. Firmware refers to software stored in read-only memory (which can not be changed). Any software (not just the bios) can be turned into firmware by burning the software into read-only memory.

Part of the bios can exist in non-read-only memory. When clones first came out - part of the bios (the build-in Basic called ROM-BASIC) was emulated by a standard software file not stored in read-only memory.

377 posted on 03/10/2005 4:50:41 PM PST by Last Visible Dog
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To: Last Visible Dog
You're wrong again. No matter how many times you type "PERIOD," you're still wrong.

firm·ware   Audio pronunciation of "firmware" ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (f�rmw�r)
n.

Computer programming instructions that are stored in a read-only memory unit rather than being implemented through software.

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Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

382 posted on 03/10/2005 6:07:34 PM PST by Petronski (Zebras: Free Range Bar Codes of the Serengeti)
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