Free OSDCloud puts a clean Windows 11 build on the device. Application Workspace gets people the apps they need to work. Here’s how the two fit together today.
Written by David Segura and the Recast Application Workspace team
Bare-metal deployment is back on the agenda. As organizations wind down Configuration Manager and move to cloud-first management, they’re losing the task sequences that used to image their devices. Microsoft retired the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) in January 2026, and Intune can’t currently fill the gap. Modern management starts after Windows is already on the machine, which leaves many teams with no OSD solution at all.
So IT teams are shopping for OSD again. Good instinct. But a fresh copy of Windows only solves half the problem, because a fresh install is a blank desk, and nobody gets work done at a blank desk.
Recast covers both halves with tools that ship today. Here’s how.
The gap after the image
Picture a new hire three states away from the office. Their laptop shows up, gets wiped, gets Windows 11, and enrolls. Then they wait for their apps. One federal IT-services team managing about 9,000 endpoints put it bluntly: “All of a sudden, I have a desktop, but I don’t have Office… and they’re going to show up in four hours. That’s a bad experience.”
Intune is the right home for enrollment, compliance, and security policy, but it can’t image a device that has no operating system. And after enrollment, Autopilot caps the number of required apps and offers no native way to control install order or finish deployment at login. New hires end up waiting hours for the tools they need.
Imaging fixes the first problem. It doesn’t touch the second.
Step 1. OSDCloud lays down Windows for free
OSDCloud is a free Recast community tool that deploys Windows 11 over the internet, with no imaging servers to build or maintain. I created it and still lead its development at Recast, which I joined in September 2025.
A deployment runs in three moves:
- Boot into WinPE. Build an OSDCloud boot image and start the device from USB, ISO, or PXE, or use your existing PowerShell-enabled WinPE. (MDT or CM work too.)
- Pull everything from the source. Windows 11 comes straight from Microsoft. Firmware comes from the Microsoft Update Catalog, and DriverPacks come directly from Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Microsoft Surface, so nothing goes stale on a file share.
- Finish at Windows setup (OOBE). The device is ready for Autopilot, Entra join, or Application Workspace.
OSDCloud supports Windows 11 on amd64 and arm64 devices. Because content comes over the internet instead of from a local server, a branch office doesn’t need its own deployment infrastructure. OSDCloud has deployed Windows on millions of devices worldwide.
Step 2. Application Workspace gets people to work
During Autopilot, Intune deploys a single app: the Application Workspace bootstrapper. It installs the agent and holds Autopilot open while your core apps install in the order you set, so security tools and VPN go on first. From that point, Application Workspace owns what happens to apps.
- Delivery runs on triggers you choose. Login, logoff, startup, and refresh. Keep Autopilot light, then finish the full app stack as soon as the desktop is up.
- Every person gets the right app set. Delivery follows identity and group membership, so the finance hire and the engineering hire log in to different desktops, each one correct.
- Apps stay current from the first day. The Application Workspace Setup Store includes 8,500+ curated Windows and macOS apps that update automatically, with your customizations carried forward.
- Self-service covers the rest. A modern catalog lets people install optional apps themselves.
The payoff is measurable. One customer dropped average device readiness time from ~3 hours to under 30 minutes.
Step 3. Visibility from the first check-in
A device that’s ready for its user also has to be ready for IT. Right Click Tools Insights shows hardware, software, and warranty details in one place, so the help desk can see and support the device you just built.
What it looks like on day one
- A laptop with a new or wiped drive boots from an OSDCloud USB stick.
- OSDCloud pulls Windows 11, drivers, and firmware from Microsoft and the OEM, then stops at OOBE.
- The device enrolls through Autopilot or Entra join. Intune deploys the Application Workspace bootstrapper, which installs the agent and holds Autopilot open while core apps install in the order you set.
- At first login, Application Workspace delivers that person’s apps and keeps them updated.
- Insights picks up the device, so IT knows exactly what it’s supporting.
How fast is it? Across 86 test devices, OSDCloud averaged 7 minutes 18 seconds for its full WinPE deployment phase. From there, Autopilot with the Application Workspace bootstrapper lays down four to eight core apps in about 20 minutes (see it here). That puts a device from bare metal to a ready desktop, with additional line-of-business apps waiting at first login, in roughly 27 minutes.
Built to complement what you already run
None of this asks you to rip anything out. Application Workspace complements Intune, Configuration Manager (SCCM), and VDI. Intune keeps enrollment, compliance, and policy. Application Workspace handles the apps, and the same package can reach a laptop, a Cloud PC, Azure Virtual Desktop, Citrix, or Omnissa.
A few details worth knowing up front:
- OSDCloud is free. Application Workspace and Right Click Tools Insights are licensed separately.
- OSDCloud supports Windows 11-compatible UEFI devices.
- Enrollment and Application Workspace agent setup still happen after imaging, the same way they do today.
Get started
Get OSDCloud for free and image your next device without a server in sight. Then explore an interactive click-through demo or book a guided, personalized tour of Application Workspace to see what happens at first login.
