How times change! IBM Corp drove most of the first generation of Personal Computer clonemakers by slipping the leash on its lawyers and driving them into bankruptcy on grounds that they were infringing its copyright in the Basic Input-Output System, the interface between MS-DOS and the hardware. Now IBM is to make both its AT and its Micro Channel BIOSes available to all comers to license – but despite its OEM thrust, which now includes key Micro Channel chips (CI No 2,054) it is too embarassed to market the things itself, and instead has called in BIOS king Phoenix Technologies Ltd to do the deed. IBM says its licence will allow both Phoenix and IBM to develop, test and incorporate into the IBM BIOS new functions and features that will keep pace with rapid changes in the personal computer market. The BIOS and related offerings from Phoenix include IBM Compatibility BIOS, Advanced BIOS, VGA and XGA video, Power On Self Test Micro Channel Setup, AT ROM Setup, Small Computer System Interface, and support for all the most widely-used building block chip sets.
