Abstract: A method and apparatus provides for controlling the distribution and installation of operating systems. In one example, the method and apparatus partitions a storage device of a device into a first partition and a second partition. The method and apparatus installs a first operating system into the first partition of the storage device, obtains an image of the second operating system, the image including at least the second operating system pre-configured for operation with the device, and installs, using the first operating system, the image of the operating system to the second partition of the storage device. In an embodiment, the image is transmitted from one or more other devices. In an embodiment, two or more images are cached on the device according to the likelihood they will be used in the future.