Firmware is the low-level software stored on a chip on the motherboard that starts the computer before the operating system loads. It runs the POST (power-on self-test), initializes hardware and then hands control to a boot loader. The older standard was BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). Modern systems use UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), which supports large drives partitioned with GPT (GUID partition table), faster startup, a graphical setup screen with mouse support and security features such as Secure Boot. Many people, and many exam questions, still call UEFI setup the BIOS, so treat the terms as close cousins with UEFI being the modern one.
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