Etcher is one of the latest Bootable USB creators, and it has the demanded advancements when compared to the older software. This bootable USB creator can make your USB bootable so that you can use it to install any OS that you can think of. Etcher supports Windows, Linux-based OS, and even macOS, this by itself is a major improvement compared to other software of this category, Etcher made this extremely easy, by making the whole process very straightforward. Etcher’s simplicity can be seen both as a benefit or as a disadvantage depending on your requirements.
The whole process of turning your USB or an SD card into a bootable one only requires a few clicks, which makes Etcher a perfect choice for those that aren’t all that tech-savvy. The main motivation for creating Etcher was the idea of having a bootable USB creator that can be used by anyone. For those that are more interested in the technical aspects, Etches itself is open-source software that anyone can improve or change. Etcher avoids the complicated menus that other bootable USB creators have and makes the whole process of preparing your USB for a fresh OS very short.
Even though this software is great for people who don’t have an IT background, Etcher is also loved by programmers and IT engineers as it makes their process of making a bootable USB very easy and fast. Everyone had a need for installing a new Operating system, which makes Etcher’s target group very wide. More than two million USB drives and SD Cards are flashed monthly, which makes it one of the best apps in this category. Even though you don’t need special knowledge when working with Etcher, they are currently developing an optional command-line interface that can be a perfect choice for those wanting to do a more “detailed” boot.
For enterprises, and overall those in need of flashing multiple devices, there is a better and improved version of Etcher named EtcherPro. But this isn’t an improved version of Etcher as it sounds, this is a hardware extension of Etcher. EtcherPro is a physical device, currently in development by Balena, that can currently be pre-ordered in a limited color.
EtcherPro will provide its users with extended capabilities when it comes to flashing their USB drives and SD cards. A single EtcherPro will be able to flash up to 16 USB drives, SD cards, microSD cards, or single-board computers all at the same time! You can flash different devices at the same time at the speed of 52 MB/s or a single device at the speed of 200 MB/s. Of course, for EtcherPro to function at this speed, the device itself needs to support this speed. With EtcherPro, you can clone physical devices or drives, and you can also flash drives using an URL. Even though 16 slots for flashing sounds a lot, up to ten EtcherPro devices can be stacked so that you can flash up to 160 drives or devices.