BSDInstall has been the default installation program since &os; 9.0-RELEASE. However, it couldn't utilize one of the best features of &os;, ZFS.

The ZFSBoot project started at EuroBSDCon 2013 and reached stable status in December, just in time for &os; 10.0-RELEASE. Currently, ZFSBoot implements root-on-ZFS with 4k partition alignment, optional forced 4k sectors, optional GELI full disk encryption, and support for boot environments.

As part of ZFSBoot, BSDInstall itself also received a number of updates, including enhanced debugging, more scriptability, a new keymap selection menu, and a number of other small changes to streamline the installation process. The new keymap menu allows the user to test the selected keymap before continuing, to ensure it is the desired keymap. Minor changes were made to the network configuration dialogues to make the identification of wireless interfaces easier.

A number of additional features are also planned. Allow the user to create additional datasets and adjust the properties on all datasets in an interactive menu. Also integrate BSDConfig to allow users to install packages and various other functionality that was previously provided by sysinstall.