Award Software International Inc. was aBIOS manufacturer founded in 1983[1] by Rene Vishney and Bob Stillman inSan Jose, California. In 1984, the company moved its international headquarters to Los Gatos,California, United States.[2][3]
In 1988, Bob Stillman left the company. The company was held privately by Rene Vishney (chairman of the board) and his wife, Deborah Lee (Marlow) Vishney (Chief Executive Officer).
By 1990 Award BIOS reportedly led among Asian PC clone makers, ahead ofPhoenix Technologies's Phoenix BIOS.[4] In 1993, Award was sold to Taiwan company GCH Systems Ltd. (now defunct).[5]
On 24 October 1996, Award Software International Inc. announced its initial public offering.[6]
On 16 June 1997, Award Software International Inc. announced the acquisition of BIOS upgrades provider Unicore Software, Inc.[7] making it a subsidiary of Award.[8]
On 16 April 1998, Phoenix Technologies and Award Software International Inc. announced the completion of a definitive merger agreement where Phoenix Technologies Ltd. would become the surviving corporate entity following the merger completion on 30 June 1998.[9] The merger was completed on 28 September 1998.[10]
AwardBIOS during bootingAward BIOS setup utility on a standard PCAward BIOS in anAtmel AT29C010APLCCflash memory
AwardBIOS: It is a series of BIOSes developed by Award Software, and later Phoenix Technologies. Includes BIOSes labeled as Award Modular BIOS and Award Medallion BIOS.
Note: After the completion of the merger in 1998, the copyright holder remained as Award Software, Inc. for some time until 2001–2002 when it changed to Phoenix Technologies Ltd. Likewise, BIOSes and UEFIs forGigabyte Technology motherboards still attributed copyright to Award Software (and as AWRDACPI in Phoenix UEFIs) until the end of 2012 when it switched toAMI's Aptivo line of UEFI solutions.[12]
EliteBIOS: It is the system management software product that Award Software designs, develops and markets to the manufacturers of desktop, server, mobile and embedded systems.[14]
^"Award Software at a Glance". 1998-02-16. Archived from the original on 1998-02-16. Retrieved2023-09-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
