Hi,
the difference of firmware and drivers is the application of this piece of software.
The most electronic hardware only needs firmware to run basicly. E.G. a DVD-player needs firmware to know how to read a CD or DVD. But to have it accessed under a operating system like Windows you need a driver to access the CD or DVD or watch a movie.
To visualize: A car needs an engine to drive at all, but needs a person (driver!)to control it.
Cheers, Menno
better audio and mail and not much else is what I've seen
A device driver is software that allows the operating system to communicate with hardware devices. While drivers can be stored in firmware, they are often installed on the operating system itself and can be updated independently. Firmware typically refers to low-level software programmed into hardware components, while device drivers serve as a bridge between the OS and the hardware. Therefore, not all device drivers are embedded in firmware, but some can be part of it.
Firmware is software saved on a memory chip that can be executed at later times. Malware is malicious software that aims to corrupt your computer.
Firmware is the stuff that makes your computer what it is, for example the BIOS is firmware. The computer would be useless without the firmwear. Software is what makes the computer do what you want, such as a word processing program, music program or browser.
Firmware refers to the software that is embedded within a hardware device. Lineware on the other hand refers to a company that deals with software development.
device drivers
Drivers. Drivers is like a middle-ground between software and hardware. It takes input from software and translates them into instructions the hardware can understand. Firmware is the software that the hardware is already programmed. Firmware is what allows hardware to "think" for itself.
niku
Softwareis programs which can be installed and used by the user for a specific purpose. Firmware on the other hand is used by the computer system for maintenance and security purposes, an example for thisis Windows Update.
If you have a message up in the networking box that says firmware missing, you can probably download them and install them in a tarball. That's what I did with the Broadcom STA drivers.
BIOS device drivers implemented in firmware are essential because they facilitate the basic communication between the operating system and hardware components during the boot process. This low-level software is crucial for initializing hardware, such as the CPU, memory, and storage devices, before the OS takes control. Additionally, having these drivers in firmware ensures that the system can boot and operate independently of the specific operating system installed, providing a consistent interface for hardware management across different OS environments.
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