rEFInd - Boot Manager Alternatives
rEFInd - Boot Manager is described as 'rEFInd is a fork of the rEFIt boot manager for computers based on the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) and Unified EFI (UEFI)' and is a Boot Manager in the os & utilities category. There are nine alternatives to rEFInd - Boot Manager for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, BSD and Solaris. The best alternative is GRUB, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like rEFInd - Boot Manager are EasyBCD, Clover EFI bootloader, rEFIt and OpenCore.
- GNU GRUB is a multiboot boot loader. It was derived from GRUB, the GRand Unified Bootloader, which was originally designed and implemented by Erich Stefan Boleyn.
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- Solaris
- OpenSolaris
- EasyBCD is NeoSmart Technologies multiple award-winning answer to tweaking Windows bootloader. With EasyBCD, almost anything is possible, e.g. to boot a Win7-VHD-image.
- This is EFI-based bootloader for BIOS-based computers created as a replacement to EDK2/Duet bootloader http://www.tianocore.org . To compile it needs to place Clover sources into edk2/ folder.
- rEFIt is a boot menu and maintenance toolkit for EFI-based machines like the Intel Macs. You can use it to boot multiple operating systems easily, including triple-boot setups with Boot Camp. It also provides an easy way to enter and explore the EFI pre-boot environment.
Discontinued
rEFIt is no longer maintained since 2013. The author suggested to check out rEFInd - Boot Manager , a fork of the original program.
- OpenCore is an open-sourced tool designed to prepare a system for macOS booting and has been architected to alleviate many of the constraints imposed by its alternatives like Clover(these tools are sometimes referred to as "boot loaders").
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- VBoot allows you to boot a physical computer from a single virtual disk file in VHD/VMDK/VDI/Raw format. Each file contains a single operating system. It supports Windows 2000, Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, 2003 Server, 2008 Server and Linux 2.6, 32- and 64-bit.
- gummiboot is a simple UEFI boot manager which executes configured EFI images. The default entry is selected by a configured pattern (glob) or an on-screen menu.
Discontinued
In May 2015, gummiboot was fully integrated into systemd to form its systemd-boot component that serves as a UEFI boot manager. Following this action, the source code repository of gummiboot was emptied out in July 2015. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gummiboot_(software)
- Burg is a brand-new boot loader based on GRUB. It uses a new object format which allows it to be built in a wider range of OS, including Linux/Windows/OSX/FreeBSD, etc.
Discontinued
The project is no longer maintained. Last version, released on 18 October 2010, can be still downloaded from Google Code.
- Limine is an advanced x86/x86_64 BIOS and UEFI bootloader that supports modern PC features such as Long Mode, 5-level paging, multi-core startup, and more thanks to the stivale and stivale2 boot protocols.