Comparison of bootloaders

|Acronis International GmbH

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{proprietary}}

|{{nonfree|$49.95 (personal use)
$79.99 (commercial, per seat)
$299.99 (server)}}

|{{official website|https://www.acronis.com/en-us/products/disk-director-home/}}

|Martin Kiewitz
Ben Rietbroek

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{open source|GPL-3.0-or-later}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://trac.netlabs.org/air-boot}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-or-later}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://code.google.com/archive/p/akernelloader/}}

|Sascha Hauer
the barebox community

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-only}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://www.barebox.org/}}

|bzt

|{{dunno}}

|{{dts|2017}}

|{{dts|14.12.2023}}

|{{open source|MIT}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://gitlab.com/bztsrc/bootboot|Source repository}}

{{official website|https://gitlab.com/bztsrc/bootboot/raw/master/bootboot_spec_1st_ed.pdf}}

|TeraByte Unlimited

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{proprietary}}

|{{nonfree|$39.95}}

|{{official website|https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootit-bare-metal.htm}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{proprietary}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{open source|MIT}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{dunno}}

|Apple Inc.

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{proprietary}}

|{{n/a|bundled with macOS}}

|{{dunno}}

|Benjamin Herrenschmidt

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{proprietary}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{dunno}}

| https://github.com/CloverHackyColor/CloverBootloader/graphs/contributors Multi Contributors]

|5157

|{{dts|2013-10-03}}

|{{dts|29.06.2024}}

|{{open source|GPLv2}}/BSD-2-Clause

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://cloverhackycolor.github.io/Clover-Documentation/}}

{{official website|https://github.com/CloverHackyColor/CloverBootloader|Source repository}}

|Apple Inc.

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{open source|APSL-2.0}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20021201125841/http://developer.apple.com/darwin/|Official Website (Archived)}}

|DENX Software Engineering

|{{wikidata|property|edit|Q1170607|P348}}

|

|{{wikidata|qualifier|edit|Q1170607|P348|P577}}

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-or-later}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://www.denx.de/wiki/U-Boot/}}

|bzt

|{{dunno}}

|{{dts|2023}}

|{{dts|20.02.2024}}

|{{open source|GPL-3.0-or-later}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://gitlab.com/bztsrc/easyboot|Source repository}}

|FreeBSD

|

|

|

|{{open source|BSD license}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|

|Raster Software

|{{wikidata|property|edit|Q105328758|P348}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{wikidata|qualifier|edit|Q105328758|P348|P577}}

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-or-later}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|http://gag.sourceforge.net/}}

|GNU Project

|

|

|{{dts|08.05.2005}}

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-or-later}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|

|{{wikidata|property|Q212885|P178}}

|{{wikidata|property|preferred|reference|edit|Q212885|P348|P548=Q2804309}}

|1995

|{{wikidata|qualifier|Q212885|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}

|{{open source|GPL-3.0-or-later}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|{{wikidata|property|Q212885|P856}}}}

|Drummerdp

|2.4.2.4

|2010

|April 2, 2025

|{{open source|GPLv3}}

|{{free|No cost}}

||{{official website|https://sourceforge.net/projects/grub2win/}}

|

|

|

|{{dts|31.03.2009}}

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-only}}{{efn|group=generic-information|While most parts of GRUB4DOS are under GPL-2.0-or-later, the whole software is limited to GPL-2.0-only due to incorporating some code from Linux.{{cite web |title=stage2/dosstart.S |url=https://github.com/chenall/grub4dos/blob/3c1d05f39e49ec1d7543caa825df00068b96620b/stage2/dosstart.S |website=GitHub |access-date=2021-06-24 |date=2014-10-12 |quote=Since we have copied the Linux kernel code and the Linux kernel follows GPL2, so only GPL2 is adoptable and it rules here.}}}}

|

|{{official website|http://grub4dos.chenall.net/}}

|

|

|

|{{dts|09.01.2013}}

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-only}}

|

|{{official website|http://gujin.sourceforge.net/}}

|

|

|

|

|{{open source|LGPL-2.1-or-later}}

|

|

|Apple Inc.

|iBoot-11881.62.2~1

|June 29, 2007

|December 9, 2024

|{{proprietary}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|{{open source|BSD-3-Clause}}

|

|

|mintsuki

|{{wikidata|property|preferred|reference|edit|Q106536220|P348|P548=Q2804309}}

|{{dts|April 6, 2020}}

|{{wikidata|qualifier|Q106536220|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}

|{{open source|BSD-2-Clause}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://limine-bootloader.org/}}

|

|

|

|

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-or-later}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-only}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://github.com/nagydjol/masterbooter|Source repository}}

|Microsoft

|

|{{dts|July 27, 1993}} (Windows NT 3.1)

|

|{{proprietary}}

|{{n/a|bundled with Windows}}

|

|Acidanthera

|

|{{dts|May 4, 2019}}

|

|{{open source|BSD-3-Clause}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://github.com/acidanthera/OpenCorePkg|Source repository}}

|The Hermit Crabs Lab

|167X-MASS (unofficial 167X-XMAX)

|{{dts|2013}}

|25 December 2015

|CCPL 3.0 License

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://github.com/tuxuser/OzmosisBIOS|Binary repository}}

|

|

|

|{{dts|12.02.2017}}

|{{proprietary}}

|

|

|

|

|

|{{dts|15.04.2013}}

|{{proprietary}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://www.plop.at/}}

| maharmstone

| 20210111

|{{dts|2020|02|13}}

| {{dts|29.03.2023}}

|{{open source|GPL-3.0-or-later}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://github.com/maharmstone/quibble}}

|

|

|

|

|mod {{open source|GPL-2.0-or-later}} (eCos license)

|

|

| Roderick W. Smith

| 0.14.4.2

| {{dts|2012|03|14}}

| {{dts|06.04.2024}}

|{{open source|GPL-3.0-or-later}}/BSD-3-Clause

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind}}

|Christoph Pfisterer

|0.14

|{{dts|March 2, 2006}}

|{{dts|07.03.2010}}

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-or-later}}/BSD-3-Clause

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://refit.sourceforge.net}}

|bzt

|{{dunno}}

|{{dts|2023}}

|{{dts|10.10.2023}}

|{{open source|MIT}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://gitlab.com/bztsrc/simpleboot/-/tree/main/docs|Documentation}}

{{official website|https://gitlab.com/bztsrc/simpleboot|Source repository}}

|

|

|

|

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-or-later}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-or-later}}

|

|

|

|

|

|{{dts|06.10.2014}}

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-or-later}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|{{open source|BSD-2-Clause}}

|

|

|Microsoft

|

|{{dts|January 30, 2007}} (Windows Vista)

|

|{{proprietary}}

|{{n/a|bundled with Windows}}

|

|

|

|

|{{dts|20.08.2002}}

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-only}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-or-later}}

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://reactos.org/wiki/FreeLoader|Documentation}}

|wolfSSL

| v2.4.0

| {{dts|2018-12-04}}

| {{dts|07.01.2025}}

|{{open source|GPL-2.0-or-later}} and Commercial Licensing

|{{free|No cost}}

|{{official website|https://www.wolfssl.com/products/wolfboot/}}

! MBR

! VBR

! Floppy

! Hard disk

! Second Hard disk

! Logical partitions

! CD-ROM

! Floppy

! USB

! Zip

! LAN

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}} (SafeBoot)

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{dunno}}

! MBR

! VBR

! Floppy

! Hard disk

! Second Hard disk

! Logical partitions

! CD-ROM

! Floppy

! USB

! Zip

! LAN

! Windows 9x/Me

! Windows NT series before Vista

! Windows Vista/7/8/10

! Linux

! ReactOS

! MenuetOS

! *BSD

! Mac OS X

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Some|Calls NTLDR}}

|{{Some|Calls Windows Boot Manager}}

|{{Some|Calls GRUB or LILO}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Yes}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{Yes}} (FreeBSD)

| {{Dunno}}

|{{Yes}} (FreeDOS)

|{{No}}

|{{Some|Calls NTLDR}}

|{{Yes|Calls Windows Boot Manager}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{Yes}} (KolibriOS as well)

|{{Yes}} (FreeBSD, OpenBSD)

|{{No}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}} (FreeBSD, TrueOS)

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{partial}}http://www.reactos.org/newsletter-37 - Freeloader can load Windows Server 2003 directly, as long as it is on a FAT32 partition

| {{some|Calls Windows Boot Manager}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Some|Calls NTLDR}}

| {{Some|Calls Windows Boot Manager}}

| {{Some|Calls GRUB or LILO}}

| {{Some|Calls bootloader}}

| {{Some|Calls bootloader}}

| {{Some|Calls bootloader}}

| {{No}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{some|Calls NTLDR}}

| {{some|Calls Windows Boot Manager}}

| {{yes}}

| {{some|Calls FreeLoader}}

| {{yes}}

| {{some|Calls bootloader for some kernels}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{some|Calls NTLDR}}

| {{some|Calls Windows Boot Manager}}

| {{yes}}

| {{some|Calls FreeLoader}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{some|Calls NTLDR}}

| {{some|Calls Windows Boot Manager}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{Yes}} (FreeBSD)

| {{some|Calls Clover}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{Some|Calls NTLDR}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{yes|Windows Server 2013 64bits with UEFI only}}

| {{some|Calls Windows Boot Manager}}Rod Smith, "[http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/gummiboot.html Managing EFI Boot Loaders for Linux: Using gummiboot]", 5 November 2012.

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes|UEFI only}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

! {{dunno}}

! {{dunno}}

! {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{some|Calls NTLDR}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{some|Calls biosboot}} (FreeBSD, PC-BSD, ...)

| {{dunno}}

|{{partial|with MEMDISK}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{dunno}}

|{{some|Calls bootloader}}

|{{some|Calls bootloader}}

|{{some|Calls bootloader}}

|{{some|Calls bootloader}}

|{{yes}}

|{{some|Calls bootloader}}

|{{some|Calls bootloader}}

|{{some|Calls bootloader}}

|{{some|Calls bootloader}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{some|Calls GRUB4DOS}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{some|Calls Darwin bootloader}}{{Cite web|url=http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Chain0|title = Chain0 - OSx86}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{some|Calls GRUB or LILO}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{some|Calls GRUB or LILO}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{yes}}

|{{Dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{some|Calls NTLDR}}

| {{some|Calls Windows Boot Manager}}

| {{yes}}

| {{some|Calls FreeLoader}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{No}}

|{{Yes}}

|{{No}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{some|Partial}}

|{{Dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{some|Calls NTLDR}}

| {{some|Calls Windows Boot Manager}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{some|via mboot.c32 module [http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php/Mboot.c32]}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Dunno}}

| {{Yes}} (FreeBSD,OpenBSD)

| {{Yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{some|Calls NTLDR}}

| {{yes}}

| {{some|Calls GRUB or LILO}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

! Windows 9x/Me

! Windows NT series before Vista

! Windows Vista/7/8/10

! Linux

! ReactOS

! MenuetOS

! *BSD

! Mac OS X

! colspan=4| FAT

! rowspan=2| Minix

! rowspan=2| ext2

! rowspan=2| btrfs

! rowspan=2| HFS

! rowspan=2| APFS

! rowspan=2| AFFS

! rowspan=2| F2FS

! rowspan=2| ZFS

! rowspan=2| NILFS

! colspan=2| YAFFS

! FAT16

! FAT32

! exFAT

! YAFFS1

! YAFFS2

! NTFS

! ext3

! ext4

! ReiserFS

! Reiser4

! JFS

! XFS

! UFS

! UDF

! HFS+

! BeFS

! AFS

! SFS

! UBIFS

! JFFS2

! cpio

! tar

! ISO 9660

! romfs

! SquashFS

! cramfs

! Advanced command

! Scriptable

! Supported architecture

! Supported executable

! Supported protocol

! Supported decompression

! Others

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| x86 (PC)

| Multiboot 1, Linux zImage, Linux bzImage and others

| TFTP

| gzip

|

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| x86 (PC, EFI, UEFI, coreboot, OLPC), IA-64, ARM (U-Boot, UEFI), PowerPC (OpenFirmware), MIPS, SPARC (OpenFirmware)

| Multiboot and others{{cite web |title=GNU GRUB Manual 2.06: Supported kernels |url=https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/html_node/Supported-kernels.html |website=GNU |publisher=Free Software Foundation, Inc. |access-date=2021-06-24}}

| TFTP, HTTP{{cite web |title=GNU GRUB Manual 2.06: Device syntax |url=https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/html_node/Device-syntax.html |website=GNU |publisher=Free Software Foundation, Inc. |access-date=2021-06-24 |quote=If you enabled the network support, the special drives (protocol[,server]) are also available. Supported protocols are ‘http’ and ‘tftp’.}}

| gzip, xz{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/html_node/Features.html|title=GNU GRUB Manual 2.02: Features}}

|

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| x86 (PC)

| Linux zImage, Linux bzImage

| {{dunno}}

| bzip2, gzip

|

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| x86 (PC, EFI, UEFI, coreboot, OLPC), ARM (U-Boot, UEFI), MIPS, PowerPC (OpenFirmware), SPARC v9 (OpenFirmware)

| FreeBSD ELF kernel image, Multiboot (incomplete, for Xen image only){{cite web |author1=WHR |title=An experiment to make a Multiboot-compliant kFreeBSD i386 image |url=https://sourceforge.net/p/hacking-freebsd/wiki/Multiboot%20kFreeBSD/ |website=SourceForge |publisher=Rivoreo |access-date=2021-06-24 |quote=Since 10.3-RELEASE, the BTX loader included in distribution supports Multiboot, but only for Xen (the Xen image is a Multiboot-compliant kernel). ... Because this multiboot support in BTX loader is designed for Xen only, it requires the first Multiboot module be original kFreeBSD image. Trying to load a Multiboot kernel without loading any Multiboot modules would resulted in BTX loader complaining 'No FreeBSD kernel provided, aborting'.}}

| TFTP, NFS

| gzip, bzip2

|

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| x86 (PC)

| Linux zImage, Linux bzImage

| {{dunno}}

| gzip

|

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| ARM7, ARM9, ARM11, Cortex-A8, StrongARM, SH, ColdFire

| ELF, binary, BIN (WinCE), SREC

| TFTP

| {{dunno}}

| Supported devices: MCF54xx, MCF5329, MCF5373, LLH7A400, LLH7A404, LLH79520, LLH79524, LSH7727, LSH7750, LSH7760, PXA270, PXA320, IMX31, IMX27, OMAP35xx, OMAP37xx

| {{some|via cmd.c32 module}}

| {{some|via lua.c32 module}}

| x86 (PC)

| Linux zImage, Linux bzImage,{{cite web |title=Can SYSLINUX Handle Large Kernels? |url=https://wiki.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=SYSLINUX#Can_SYSLINUX_Handle_Large_Kernels.3F |website=Syslinux Wiki |access-date=2021-06-24}} Multiboot,{{Cite web|url=https://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Mboot.c32|title=Mboot.c32 - Syslinux Wiki|website=www.syslinux.org|language=en|access-date=2018-10-12}} MBR image{{cite web |title=Comboot/chain.c32 |url=https://wiki.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Comboot/chain.c32 |website=Syslinux Wiki |access-date=2021-06-24}}

| TFTP

| gzip, bzip2, lzo, zip, lzma, ?

|

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| x86 (PC)

| ELF, Binary

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

|

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| x86-64 (PC, UEFI, El Torito CDROM, BSS Expansion ROM, UEFI Option ROM), ARM AArch64 (Raspberry Pi 3 and up)

| ELF64 / PE32+

| serial

| gzip

| comes with a multiplatform, dependency-free bootable hybrid image creator (FOSS)

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| x86-64 (BIOS, UEFI), ARM AArch64 (Raspberry Pi 3 and up)

| ELF32, ELF64, PE32+/COFF, a.out, Multiboot2, MZ, Linux zImage, Linux bzImage, FreeBSD BTX, OpenBSD ELF kernel image

| {{dunno}}

| gzip

| comes with a multiplatform, dependency-free bootable hybrid image creator (FOSS), Multiboot2 extensions (clean 64-bit, higher-half, embedded-tags-free, EDID and SMP support)

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| PowerPC (Open Firmware)

| Linux ELF image

| TFTP

| {{no}}

|

| {{yes}}

| {{some|yes (boot only)}}

| ARM, ColdFire, H8300, x86, Freescale/Motorola 68000, MIPS, PowerPC, SH, SPARC, SPARCLite

| ELF

| TFTP, serial (X-modem)

| gzip

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| PowerPC, ARM, AVR32, Blackfin, ColdFire, IXP, Leon2, m68k, MicroBlaze, MIPS, NIOS, NIOS2, PXA, x86, RISC-V, StrongARM, SH2, SH3, SH4, ...

| EFI, ELF, U-Boot image format, Linux zImage, raw

| TFTP, NFS, serial (S-Record, Y-Modem, Kermit binary protocol)

| bzip2, gzip, lzma

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| ARM, Blackfin, NIOS2, MIPS, x86, PowerPC

| ELF, U-Boot image format

| TFTP, NFS, serial (S-Record, Y-Modem, Kermit binary protocol)

| bzip2, gzip, lz4, xz, lzo

|

| {{n/a|Depending on user space}}

| {{n/a|Depending on user space}}

| x86, ARM, ARM64, PowerPC, PowerPC 64, IA-64, IBM Z, RISC-V{{cite web |title=Documentation for Kdump - The kexec-based Crash Dumping Solution |url=https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/kdump/kdump.txt |website=The Linux Kernel Archives |access-date=2021-06-24 |format=text/plain}}

| Linux bzImage, Multiboot, other ELF image

| {{n/a|Depending on configuration and user space}}

| {{n/a}}

| The kexec system call can start another kernel, replacing the current running Linux, thus turning a Linux-based operating system into a fancy bootloader.

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| x86 (PC)

| Windows NT kernel image (PE), MBR image

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| default bootloader on Windows NT

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| x86-64 (PC, UEFI)

| Linux zImage, Linux bzImage, ELF32 / ELF64 / COFF / PE32+ with Multiboot2

| {{dunno}}

| any

| comes with a multiplatform, dependency-free image creator (FOSS), supports 64-bit higher-half kernels with Multiboot2

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| ARM, RISC-V, x86

| EFI

| HTTPS

| {{dunno}}

| UEFI reference implementation

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| x86 (PC), ARM (only on Windows Mobile remake)

| Portable Executable

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| Successor of NTLDR; used on Vista and up.

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| x86 (PC), ARM, PowerPC

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| clone of NTLDR

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| IBM IPL upper compatible

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

|

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| ARM

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| {{dunno}}

| Proprietary

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| x86 (PC, UEFI), ARM, RISC-V, LoongArch{{cite news|last=Larabel|first=Michael|date=2024-08-03|url=https://www.phoronix.com/news/Limine-8.0-Bootloader|title=Limine 8.0 Bootloader Released With LoongArch Support

|publisher=Phoronix|access-date=2025-02-09}}{{cite news|last=Schürrmann|first=Tim|date=2024-08-06|url=https://www.linux-magazin.de/news/alternativer-bootloader-limine-8-0-1-unterstuetzt-loongarch64-systeme/|title=Alternativer Bootloader Limine 8.0.1 unterstützt LoongArch64-Systeme|publisher=Linux-Magazin|access-date=2025-03-07}}

| Multiboot 1 and 2, Limine boot protocol, Linux zImage and bzImage{{cite news|last=Holwerda|first=Thom|date=2024-08-04|title=Limine: a modern, advanced, portable, multiprotocol bootloader and boot manager|url=https://www.osnews.com/story/140407/limine-a-modern-advanced-portable-multiprotocol-bootloader-and-boot-manager/|publisher=OSNews|access-date=2025-03-07}}

| TFTP

| gzip

|

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| ARM, RISC-V, PowerPC, x86

| Binary, ELF32/ELF64, Multiboot2

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| Open-source, OS-agnostic (run alongside RTOS, Linux or bare-metal), ARM TrustZone-M support, Hardware Security Module support (including TPM 2.0), Integrity and authenticity verification of firmware images. Roll-back to previous image, Encryption, Self-update

! Advanced command

! Scriptable

! Supported architecture

! Supported executable

! Supported protocol

! Supported decompression

! Others