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Install Boréal OS

Four steps to turn a PC into a Boréal OS agentic station: get the image and the preparation tool, prepare the USB installation stick, boot the target PC from that stick, and trigger the install onto the internal disk. Before starting, an active ProductivIA account should already be in place: the platform is currently accessible by invitation only. After installation, the same OS can stay a client or be switched to server mode from the interface. The whole process takes about thirty minutes.

Before starting

Three useful clarifications for choosing the right path, depending on the goal. Important: install Boréal OS only with an active ProductivIA account or a confirmed invitation already in hand.

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To evaluate the platform

The ProductivIA platform is currently available by invitation only. Sign up for the waiting list through the forms at the bottom of the page or on the About page — a message will follow as soon as access opens up, before any installation is needed.

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To stay on Windows

Full agentic capability is wanted without changing OS. The path to follow is installing Boréal for Windows — a native program downloadable from the Download page. No USB stick, no reformatting.

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To install Boréal OS

This is the right place with an active ProductivIA account already in hand. A PC will be turned into a native agentic station, built for the ProductivIA platform and compatible with Matania in residence if activated. If the goal is to serve ProductivIA on-site, server mode can then be activated from the interface. Follow the steps below.

Is this computer compatible?

The vast majority of PCs built since 2012 and currently running Windows 10 or 11 qualify. The USB stick can be prepared from any recent Windows machine.

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Minimum requirements

  • x86-64 architecture (Intel or AMD)
  • UEFI firmware (no legacy BIOS / CSM)
  • Secure Boot that can be disabled in the BIOS
  • 4 GB of RAM
  • 32 GB of internal storage
  • 1024 × 768 screen or higher
  • A 32 GB or larger, empty USB stick
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Recommended

  • 8 GB of RAM or more
  • Internal SSD or NVMe
  • Compatible GPU (NVIDIA driver 580, recent Intel iGPU/Arc, recent AMD RDNA) to activate Matania locally
  • 16 GB of VRAM if the machine is to serve Matania in server mode
  • 1920 × 1080 screen
  • Ethernet or Wi-Fi 5/6

Not supported: Mac (Apple Silicon or recent Intel with T2 chip), Chromebook, ARM tablets, Raspberry Pi.

help_outlineTechnical detailsWhy these hardware restrictions

On the Apple Silicon and Mac T2 side, the processor architecture and the boot chain sealed by the manufacturer make installing another operating system impractical. Chromebooks follow a comparable logic: the firmware is deliberately restrictive toward alternative systems, and unlocking it requires hardware manipulations outside the product's current scope. Raspberry Pi and ARM tablets run on an architecture different from the one Boréal OS is compiled for.

On the legacy firmware side, Boréal OS assumes a modern, single, simple boot chain — one boot path, written cleanly by the installer into the motherboard's non-volatile memory. This simplicity is itself a security trait: fewer paths, less surface, less possible drift.

On the GPU and Matania residence side, the absence of a compatible GPU does not prevent Boréal OS from working — Matania simply does not install locally, and inference is served remotely by the platform. For a client workstation, a recent GPU is enough to run a workstation-class Matania. To serve Matania organization-wide from a local server, the hardware target is 16 GB of dedicated memory.

1 — Get the preparation tool

With an active ProductivIA account, go to the Download page and download the Boréal OS USB Maker application for Windows. A single file: the utility automatically fetches the latest official Boréal OS image, verifies its SHA-256 fingerprint, and prepares it on the USB stick. No other manipulation, no image file to download or verify manually.

2 — Prepare the USB stick

On the usual Windows PC, plug in a USB stick of at least 32 GB (its contents will be erased) and launch Boréal OS USB Maker. The utility detects the stick, downloads the latest official Boréal OS image, verifies its integrity, then writes it to the stick. This takes about ten minutes depending on Internet speed. No prior system installation, no service to activate.

3 — Prepare the target PC

Boréal OS entirely replaces the installed operating system. The target PC's BIOS must allow booting from the stick. Turn the machine on and enter the BIOS at the first screen by pressing the appropriate key:

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F2

Dell, Asus, Lenovo

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F10

HP

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Delete

Assembled towers, MSI, Gigabyte

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Esc

Acer

In the Security or Boot section, apply the following settings:

  • Secure Boot: Disabled
  • Boot Mode: UEFI (not Legacy, not CSM)
  • Fast Boot: Disabled if present (a Windows option that prevents the boot menu from appearing)
  • Save with F10 and restart

These settings can be reverted at any time to return to the previous system.

4 — Boot from the stick, then install

Plug the stick into the target PC, turn it on, and call up the boot menu at the first screen:

laptop

F12

Dell, Lenovo

laptop_mac

F9

HP

laptop_chromebook

F8 or F11

Asus, MSI

devices

F12

Acer

Select the stick from the list (often labeled "UEFI: stick name"). Boréal OS boots straight into the platform, full-screen.

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Launch the installer

From the welcome menu, open Install to disk. The installer lists eligible internal disks, asks for a double text confirmation, then copies the image and configures the firmware.

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Restart without the stick

Once installation is complete — five to ten minutes — remove the stick and restart. Boréal OS boots straight into the ProductivIA platform. It can be used as a client, or server mode can be activated from the interface to serve ProductivIA locally. If Matania was activated in residence, it can then tune and personalize the machine according to usage.

install_desktopTechnical detailsWhat the installer does, briefly

The installer only offers internal disks — the USB stick it is running from is automatically excluded, as is any removable device, along with any disk clearly too small to hold the image. The target is then chosen and confirmed twice, through explicit text entry: the exact phrases "erase this disk" and "install Boréal OS" must be typed. No shortcut, no hover-confirmation — the operation is deliberately hard to trigger by accident.

Once both confirmations are collected, the system image is copied to the target disk, then resized to that disk's actual capacity (the system partition is extended to the available space). A clean new boot entry, named "Boréal OS," is written into the motherboard firmware. That is all: no residual layer of uncertainty, no dual-boot mode to maintain, no third-party boot manager to configure.

Throughout the operation, progress and logs can be reviewed locally. If a step were to fail midway, the machine would remain bootable from the USB stick and the installation could be restarted without risk to the hardware.

In case of difficulty

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The stick does not appear in USB Maker

Unplug and replug the stick. The application deliberately hides the disk containing the active Windows install — this is a safety measure and is expected.

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The target PC ignores the stick at boot

Check that Secure Boot is indeed disabled and that the mode is set to UEFI. On some models, also disable Fast Boot. If the boot menu does not open, the key varies by manufacturer (see step 3).

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Windows shows a warning when launching USB Maker

Our sovereign approach means signing our software independently of foreign authorities. Windows may show a warning on first launch: click More info then Run anyway.