I have started to read up on IA64 this weekend and I have found a number of interesting things. - EFI is not something we should be concerned with at all. EFI is intels replacement for dos, not the BIOS. ROM is cheap enough now you can load it into your ROM, so it looks to play a slightly different role than DOS, but that is where it is aimed.
- The SAL & PAL layers are what we should be concerned with. The PAL is processor specific and supplied by intel like microcode updates are today. The SAL is supplied by the board manufacturer. PAL == Processor Abstraction Layer SAL == System Abstraction Layer. So replacing the SAL is something we want to do when the time comes. And possibly the PAL. They are both implemneted in IA64 bit code, so this interface looks some healthier than what was preseent on the Alpha. But I was burned with the Alpah PAL code, and I don't want to see it again. Eric
