Norwood, Massachusetts-based ROM BIOS specialist Phoenix Technologies Ltd has released PhoenixBIOS 4.0, its fourth generation Basic Input-Output System product for MS-DOS personal computers. Developed initially as a means to provide an interface layer between the operating system and underlying hardware, the BIOS is increasingly also being used to add advanced power management support, Peripheral Component Interconnect bus configuration, Plug & Play support and performance optimisation. The new release incorporates the latest Plug & Play technology for MS-DOS and Windows capabilities, including Run Time Services. Release 4.04 also supports the Enhanced Disk Drive developed by Phoenix. Enhanced Disk Drive support enables disk drives of any size to be auto-configured in the BIOS for use by operating systems, thereby eliminating the need for special drivers that are ordinarily needed to support disk drives larger than 528Mb on MS-DOS machines. PhoenixBIOS 4.0 is being shipped in computers manufactured by Gateway 2000 Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co, Micronics Systems Ltd, Packard Bell Electronics Inc and Zeos International Ltd. And the printer software end of the company has launched a PCL Print Control Language emulation targeted at the Microsoft At Work printer market. Called PhoenixPage PCL 4W, the software extends Microsoft At Work printing functionality to MS-DOS applications. The software is based upon Phoenix’s PCL 5 emulation, and is designed to run in 512Kb of memory. Phoenix is therefore touting it as an ideal, low-cost offering for OEM customers developing low-end Windows printers. The PCL 4W code, an optional component of Microsoft’s Software Adaption Kit reference design for intelligent At Work printers, is supplied with Hewlett-Packard Co LaserJet IIP compatible 300 dots per inch bit-map fonts. PCL 4W resides in the printer and users select the operation through their standard LaserJet IIP printer driver. The product is currently shipping, but you have to haggle – the price you get depends on how big and strong you are.
