HP has a very good article on the replacement for BIOS, UEFI. It’s definitely a good and informative read, particularly the parts where it explains the existing shortcomings of BIOS, namely:

...BIOS is physically unable to boot from hard disks with more than 2.1 TB.

The problem lies within the old MBR (Master Boot Record) system used by most BIOSes. The partition table is limited to 2.1 TB, so your clients can’t boot from these devices – at least not without time-consuming workarounds or specialized tools.

Concerning USB:

...BIOS struggles with initializing [USB ports, PCI devices, or built-in controllers] one-by-one. This struggle results in delays of up to 30 seconds before the actual operating system start its first boot sequence!

The article is chock full of good useful info concerning things BIOS is simply not capable of handling well, so you know what to avoid when building your next PC.

Are there motherboards using UEFI instead of BIOS for sale now?

Yes, but not that many.

NewEgg has 20 motherboards that support UEFI in full or in part (you'll have to check the description for each to be sure). Well more than half of them are in what most people would consider the "affordable" range, so you wouldn't be spending extra out-of-pocket expense for one.

The brand that has the most UEFI-equipped motherboards is ASUS; a trusted brand of motherboard that many people swear by.

Should you dump your BIOS motherboard for UEFI now?

No, or rather not unless you have a pressing reason to.

At this stage of the game the UEFI boards don't have as many features as BIOS boards do, but that's only because the OEMs haven't built them yet. Will they? Yes. We should be seeing a ton more motherboards with UEFI when 2012 rolls around. The industry desperately wants BIOS to go away and stay away because there's more and more new technology being introduced that BIOS simply doesn't work correctly with - if at all.

A 'pressing reason' for the need of UEFI now would be if you need a feature that it can do that BIOS cannot, like booting from an over-2TB hard drive. Otherwise, hang on to your motherboard with BIOS for the time being and wait until more choices arrive on the market.

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