Update: The Development Kit does have a BIOS! Damn.
And will probably boot Windows - so they will have a traditional BIOS.
So we are left with the COMPLETE x86 architecture in our Macs - no modernisation, dealing with the appallingly implemented ACPI and APM standards for Power Management, the lot.
What's worse is that, if this is true, the only way that they will stop you running OS X on your no-name PC or Dell - is most likely DRM...
Sources:
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/MacOSX/Conceptual/universal_binary/universal_binary.pdf
==> 'Macintosh computers using Intel microprocessors do not use Open Firmware. Although many parts of the IO registry are present and work as expected, information that is provided by Open Firmware on a Macintosh using a PowerPC microprocessor (such as a complete device tree) is not available in the IO registry on a Macintosh using an Intel microprocessor. You can obtain some of the information from IODeviceTree by using the sysctlbyname or sysctl commands.'
http://news.com.com/Apple+throws+th...page+2/2100-7341_3-5733756-2.html?tag=st.next
==> 'After Jobs' presentation, Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller addressed the issue of running Windows on Macs, saying there are no plans to sell or support Windows on an Intel-based Mac. "That doesn't preclude someone from running it on a Mac. They probably will," he said. "We won't do anything to preclude that." '
And will probably boot Windows - so they will have a traditional BIOS.
So we are left with the COMPLETE x86 architecture in our Macs - no modernisation, dealing with the appallingly implemented ACPI and APM standards for Power Management, the lot.
What's worse is that, if this is true, the only way that they will stop you running OS X on your no-name PC or Dell - is most likely DRM...
Sources:
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/MacOSX/Conceptual/universal_binary/universal_binary.pdf
==> 'Macintosh computers using Intel microprocessors do not use Open Firmware. Although many parts of the IO registry are present and work as expected, information that is provided by Open Firmware on a Macintosh using a PowerPC microprocessor (such as a complete device tree) is not available in the IO registry on a Macintosh using an Intel microprocessor. You can obtain some of the information from IODeviceTree by using the sysctlbyname or sysctl commands.'
http://news.com.com/Apple+throws+th...page+2/2100-7341_3-5733756-2.html?tag=st.next
==> 'After Jobs' presentation, Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller addressed the issue of running Windows on Macs, saying there are no plans to sell or support Windows on an Intel-based Mac. "That doesn't preclude someone from running it on a Mac. They probably will," he said. "We won't do anything to preclude that." '