Editing Preboot Execution Environment (section)

== Acceptance ==
PXE acceptance since v2.1 has been ubiquitous; today it is virtually impossible to find a network card without PXE firmware on it. The availability of inexpensive [[Gigabit Ethernet]] hardware (NICs, [[Network switch|switches]], [[Network router|routers]], etc.) has made PXE the fastest method available for installing an operating system on a client when competing against the classic [[CD]], [[DVD]], and [[USB flash drive]] alternatives.

Over the years several major projects have included PXE support, including: 
* All the major Linux distributions.
* [[OpenVMS]] on [[HPE Integrity]] and [[x86-64]] hardware.
* Microsoft [[Remote Installation Services]] (RIS)
* Microsoft [[Windows Deployment Services]] (WDS) 
* [[Microsoft Deployment Toolkit]] (MDT)
* Microsoft [[System Center Configuration Manager]] (SCCM)

In regard to NBP development there are several projects implementing Boot Managers able to offer boot menu extended features, scripting capabilities, etc.:
* Syslinux [[PXELINUX]]
* [[gPXE]]/[[iPXE]]

All the above-mentioned projects, when they are able to boot/install more than one OS, work under a "Boot Manager - Boot Loader" paradigm. The initial NBP is a Boot Manager able to retrieve its own configuration and deploy a menu of booting options. The user selects a booting option and an OS dependent Boot Loader is downloaded and run in order to continue with the selected specific booting procedure.