Ventoy
Turns a USB stick into a menu of installers, so you copy ISO files on and boot any of them.
Our verdict
Ventoy is the tool to use before you switch, while you are still on Windows. You run its Windows program once against a USB stick, and from then on you simply copy Linux ISO files onto the stick and pick one from a menu when the computer starts.
That matters because trying Linux usually means trying several. Without Ventoy you rewrite the whole stick for every version you want to test. With it, five distributions sit on the same stick and you choose at boot.
It also stays useful afterwards, as a rescue stick holding a repair tool and a spare installer. The only real warning is that preparing the drive wipes it, so use an empty stick or move anything important off it first.
What's good
- Prepare the stick once, then add and remove installers by copying files like any other USB drive
- Holds several Linux versions at the same time, so you can try before you commit
- Works from Windows too, which is exactly when a switcher needs it
What to know first
- Preparing the stick erases everything already on it
- Downloaded from the project's own site rather than an app store, so updates are manual
- The setup window is functional and jargon-heavy, with options most people should leave alone
The details
- Cost
- Free
- Open source
- Yes (GPL-3.0)
- How you install it
- AppImage download
Windows apps it can replace
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