Is this what a hyperspace warp drive looks like?
Firmware offers alternative to Windows headache
Phoenix Technologies Ltd., the world’s leading BIOS provider, has unveiled a new head turning product called HyperSpace. No, it is not a new warp drive to allow Han Solo to break his record setting spice run from Kessel to Corellia. It is a virtualization product that claims to provide a faster, more secure and battery efficient alternative to Microsoft Windows.
HyperSpace is a layer of BIOS embedded software that makes it possible to instantly run applications independently of Windows. These “instant-on” applications will be truncated versions of open-source programs and that are available before, during and after Windows boot up and shut down.
Phoenix is targeting the portable PC market and seeks to capitalize on what critics say are the major faults of Windows: its size, speed, inefficiency and poor security. HyperSpace allows users to bypass the boot up process and instantly access their favorite applications, such as internet browsers, media players and word processors. It also promises to conserve battery life since Vista is notoriously power intensive.
HyperSpace will add value to PC vendors by allowing them to remotely trouble shoot and restore customers’ computers. It also promises to deliver a layer of embedded security that is stronger than the current standards.
The product is based on a form of virtualization, called a hypervisor, that allows a machine to simultaneously run multiple operating systems. Phoenix calls this HyperCore, and it is essentially a pared down hypervisor that uses a Zoned Virtual Machine Monitor (ZVMM) to run their core applications along side Windows. Since HyperSpace is written into the BIOS firmware, its code is essentially secret and more secure argues Woody Hobbs, Phoenix CEO, in an interview with ComputerWorld.
In the same conversation, Hobbs said Phoenix Technologies is working with unnamed PC vendors to make HyperSpace enabled computers available by the second quarter of 2008. Phoenix has partnered with both Intel and AMD to take advantage of built-in processor virtualization capabilities. HyperSpace will be compatible with AMD Opteron, Athlon and Intel Core 2 Duo, vPro and Centrino processors.
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