rEFInd

rEFInd is an open-source boot manager that works with Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows. It's based on rEFIt but is designed to play nicely with UEFI-based machines.

What Can rEFInd Do?

This handy tool lets you tweak boot-time settings manually. You can also try out Live operating systems from bootable CDs or USB flash drives. Plus, it's able to launch Linux 3.3.0 and later kernels that are built with EFI stub loader support.

Key Features of rEFInd

Some cool features include:

• Secure Boot Support: This relies on a separate PreLoader or shim program.


• Launch Recovery Tools: You can easily run recovery utilities for MS Windows and Macintosh.


• Support for Third-Party EFI Programs: This includes things like an EFI shell.

The Advantage Over rEFIt

If you compare it to rEFIt, you'll see that rEFInd handles UEFI-based machines better. It automatically detects installed EFI boot managers and can handle multiple bootloaders smoothly. You'll get both text-mode and graphical prompts during booting, which is super user-friendly!

Technical Specs

The app supports both EFI 1.x and UEFI 2.x machines across PCs and Macs. It works with various file systems like EXT2, EXT3, EXT4, Btrfs, ReiserFS, ISO-9660, and HFS+ too.

A Unique Feature: Firmware Setup Utility

You can even reboot directly into the firmware setup utility for specific UEFIs! And guess what? It has maintenance-free Linux kernel updates—no more fiddling around with boot settings after a kernel update!

A Solid Alternative to GRUB

rEFInd acts as a drop-in replacement for GRUB (GRand Unified Bootloader). While it's similar to the gummiboot, it comes packed with even more features and configuration options. Plus, it's great because you can navigate using your keyboard and set custom background images!