Easy2Boot vs SYSLINUX

Easy2Boot creates a multiboot USB drive for starting operating system installers, live systems and utilities. It runs on Linux and Windows, and the download includes three menu systems based on grub4dos, grubfm and Ventoy. Users add payloads by copying ISO, IMG and VHD files to the USB drive; listed payloads include Windows and Linux images, DOS programs and floppy images. For supported UEFI payloads, .imgPTN partition images can be used for Secure Boot. Easy2Boot can automate Windows installations with drivers, software, configuration, scripts and updates. Linux setup calls for an MBR partition layout and requires partition 4 to remain unused. The download guidance recommends a USB drive between 8GB and 2TB; larger drives may use 4K sectors or lack legacy boot support. Direct Secure UEFI32 booting to the agFM menu is not supported. The menu system uses open-source components and plain-text scripts, but the download also includes closed-source Windows utilities. Easy2Boot is free to use, but not for resale. Support options include a forum, live developer help, eBooks and online chat.

SYSLINUX is free software comprising bootloaders for starting Linux and other systems from several media types. SYSLINUX boots from MS-DOS or Windows FAT filesystems, PXELINUX handles PXE network booting, ISOLINUX starts ISO9660 CD-ROMs, and EXTLINUX supports Linux ext2 and ext3 filesystems. MEMDISK loads legacy operating systems from supported media. Boot settings are placed in a text file named syslinux.cfg, while documented modules provide menu and graphical menu interfaces. Listed capabilities include BIOS and UEFI support, multiboot support, boot-entry editing, and boot-menu customization. Building from source requires Linux and NASM 2.03 or later; NASM 2.07 or newer is recommended. The project is licensed under GNU GPL version 2 or, at the user's option, any later version. Compatibility limits matter: FAT filesystems with sector sizes other than 512 bytes are unsupported, and UEFI SYSLINUX cannot chainload other EFI applications such as UEFI Shell or Windows Boot Manager. Support information is provided through a SYSLINUX mailing list.