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Apple Sued Over 'Fast Booting' Patent Linked to LG
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Not necessarily. Mac's could be construed as an abbreviation for Macintoshes, which would be a proper use of the apostrophe, as it serves as the placeholder for the missing intoshe.
That sounds like exactly how Windows XP "Hibernate" mode works. They'd better get Microsoft, too.
Incorrect. Macs do have a POST sequence. The end of the sequence is to sound the chime if everything is OK.
Can't argue with that, Macs indeed have EFI instead of a BIOS.
Did you read the patent? It's just stupid, patenting the idea of faster booting a computer using BIOS and POST is a little broad don't you think?
Emulation.., You install all nessecary BIOS-files when using the Bootcamp assistant to partition your hdd
That isn't the POST. The POST is the sequence before the Mac boots that finishes with the startup chime.
First let me say I believe this is a bogus patent, everything back to Windows 95 with plug-n-play kept track of what hardware was previously found on the system to reduce detection time on boot...
But when it comes to BIOS and EFI... what is in a name? They are both firmware that provides basic hardware services during boot to an operating system during its initial loading stages. The exact name would likely not matter, as the patent itself was created before EFI existed. I wouldn't put too much of a defense on whether or not the mac has a BIOS - A BIOS and an EFI rom provide the same boot services and therefore would likely be considered the same by the court.
I understand your point, but at least look at/address the specific issue at hand before you make a broad statement like that: Is this a valid patent claim, or should it be?
BIOS stands for "basic input/output system". It's the layer of software that stands between the operating system and the actual hardware. By definition, every computer has some kind of firmware that does this, although the actual acronym "BIOS" tends to get associated with Windows/Intel PCs.
At their most basic level, every computer is pretty much equivalent. Whether you call it EFI or BIOS or something else entirely, there's something that handles that job. Years ago I had a Mac-loving friend who made fun of my DOS/Windows computer and all of its jargon about file allocation tables (FAT32 etc). He was pretty much insistent that Macs were better because they didn't have any such thing.
That's false. BIOS is built-in to the bootloader on all modern Macs (if you remember, when Boot Camp originally came out, it required a firmware update).
As users have pointed out in this very thread, EFI itself is a type of BIOS (basic input/output system), just not the same type as what is used in PCs. However, the PC-type is also present in the Mac's firmware.
Certainly. If I go and report a crime to the police that happened ten years ago, the cops would likely shrug their shoulders and tell me "too bad".
What I find most depressing about all of these patent suits is that it puts into question why to even bother trying to develop ANYTHING if it could come crashing down for some erroneous lawsuit.
Perhaps I should patent the IDEA of a time machine and flying cars and then sue anyone who actually makes them. :/
First, LG isn't behind this. They sold the patent to a patent troll (probably because they thought it was worthless themselves).
Second, reading through the claims, it is quite clear that Apple doesn't do what the patent claims. The patent says: You boot a computer, then immediately after the boot you take the memory state and state of hardware and write it to disk. Then when you boot again, instead of going through the boot process, you just read the memory from disk and restore the hardware state from disk. (Hundred percent sure that Apple doesn't do any of these. Mostly because it is a rubbish idea in the first place). Then you check whether your config files are unchanged and if not you are in a mess that needs cleaning up (which is _why_ the patent is a rubbish idea), which is again more rubbish because the Mac doesn't have Windows config files.
So this patent may very well be valid; good luck finding anyone doing what the patent says.
Second, reading through the claims, it is quite clear that Apple doesn't do what the patent claims. The patent says: You boot a computer, then immediately after the boot you take the memory state and state of hardware and write it to disk. Then when you boot again, instead of going through the boot process, you just read the memory from disk and restore the hardware state from disk. (Hundred percent sure that Apple doesn't do any of these. Mostly because it is a rubbish idea in the first place). Then you check whether your config files are unchanged and if not you are in a mess that needs cleaning up (which is _why_ the patent is a rubbish idea), which is again more rubbish because the Mac doesn't have Windows config files.
So this patent may very well be valid; good luck finding anyone doing what the patent says.
BIOS and EFI are indeed different. There's a reason Apple replaced Open Firmware with EFI and not BIOS like most PC manufacturers do. It has far more features (with potential for even more) than BIOS could ever have. I seem to remember reading somewhere that you could run an entire OS off of the EFI if you wanted. It's really nothing like BIOS.
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To start windows on a Mac:
1. DONG!...EFI starts
2. (holding down ALT-key)... pick Win HDD
3. BIOS is initialed..
4. Windows booting...
Hmm, that sounds like coming out of hibernation to me... though still not a "new" or "novel" concept...
I never said I hope/think Apple will win it's suit against Amazon for the term App Store.