How do I access the BIOS like on the PCs?

How do I access the BIOS like on the PCs? When starting up, there is nothing to see, only a white screen and a spining loading logo.

I am pretty sure that you can't.

I can't? Are you sure? There gotta be a way.

it's not bios but you can get to a device loader by hoding down the option key.

Yeah, macs don't really have a Bios as Apple knows exactly what parts they installed in there, so there's no need to set them up at that level.

You can however get boot options (hold option key), boot from CD/DVD (Hold c key), run your mac as a firewire drive (hold down t) and do a few other things.

The best you can do is gain access to some of the options in packages like Cocktail and OnyX . There are options here to change the bootup and shutdown screens to verbose, which will get rid of the white screen and show you what's going on.

Be aware that these packages also allow you to do all sorts of maintenance on your iBook as well, which can be a good thing if you're careful, or you can really screw up your machine.

As posted before, you really need to view OS X not as a UNIX system, but as an operating environment that uses UNIX under the hood. The whole thing is designed so you don't have to get underneath.

Frankly, this is why I got away from Windows as my home machine's OS-- I spent almost 20 years in some capacity as a UNIX admin and I got tired of having to tune everything all the time both at work and at home. I love the fact that OS X handles everything for me underneath the covers, as it were. I love not having to mess around with settings just to keep my machine running.

Macs do not use BIOS but the you can get into the firmware command line by holding down Command + Option + O + F.