The boot process: a modern history of computing
summary
Describes the real x86 boot sequence: the CPU fetches microcode (updatable via a ~4 MB blob) and starts at the fixed 0xFFFF0 reset vector in 16-bit real mode with 1 MiB addressable. Firmware/UEFI initializes the memory controller (with special boot-time tuning for reliability), switches to 32-bit protected mode so the bootloader (e.g. GRUB) can place the kernel and command line in the zero page, then the kernel enables 64-bit long mode (landmark: Opteron 2003) and hardware virtualization (around 2005), which underpin modern cloud platforms.
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