Basic Input Output System
From Unofficial BOINC Wiki
[edit] General
A small segment of code that is used to start a computer system from a cold start stage. This small segment of code is capable of giving the user enough control over the initial stages of the system that testing, trouble-shooting, and configuration changes to the start-up process can be performed. As the system starts up, the BIOS brings in the initial loader program that will then pull in the remainder of the Operating System.
