What does the acronym UEFI stand for?

The acronym UEFI stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface. This specification is designed to replace the traditional Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) firmware interface found in earlier PCs. UEFI provides several advantages over BIOS, including faster boot times, support for larger hard drives (over 2 TB), and a more user-friendly graphical interface that can support mouse and keyboard input.

The term "Unified" reflects the standardization of interface practices across different hardware manufacturers, while "Extensible" indicates that the framework allows for additional functionality to be added by developers, which contributes to the versatility and adaptability of the technology as it evolves. The use of "Firmware Interface" highlights that UEFI acts as an intermediary layer between the computer's hardware and the operating system during the boot process.

Understanding UEFI is essential for troubleshooting boot issues and for setting up secure boot processes, which enhance the security of the startup process by ensuring that only trusted operating system loaders are executed.