EasyBCD vs Petitboot

EasyBCD is a Windows bootloader editor for setting up multiboot systems and changing boot menus. It can configure systems involving Windows, Linux, macOS, and BSD, and boot from USB drives, ISO images, and virtual disks. Users can add, rename, remove, configure, and reorder boot entries, including entries for recovery utilities or safe mode. The tool can back up and repair a bootloader, and its NeoGrub scripting can hide partitions, change active flags, and support complex boot setups. EasyBCD supports BIOS and UEFI. Personal, non-commercial use is free; the Commercial plan costs $39.99 as a one-time purchase. NeoSmart advises care when modifying boot settings and says EasyBCD cannot fix a PC that will not boot, directing users to EasyRE for that situation. The latest release listed in the changelog is version 2.4.0.237, dated November 28, 2018.

Petitboot is a free, GPL-2.0-licensed bootloader implemented by userspace programs in a small Linux image. It discovers devices and bootable images, reads configurations such as GRUB, SYSLINUX, and Yaboot, then starts systems through Linux kexec. Its primary interface is an ncurses menu for viewing boot choices and system information, changing settings, running plugins, and opening a shell. Operating-system images can be loaded over HTTP, HTTPS, NFS, SFTP, or TFTP. Basic functionality is available on platforms that support kexec, while documented platform implementations include POWER systems using OPAL firmware and ARM64 systems with efivarfs support. On supported systems, inband IPMI can report BMC information and alter boot behavior through boot-device overrides. Plugins package and run binaries and may be discovered locally or in PXE network files. The pb-discover server finds and configures devices, while user interfaces communicate through pb-protocol. The included pb-sos utility gathers diagnostic and crash information.