What is the best Linux Distribution for gaming?

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Sep 25, 2023

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Best Linux Distribution for gaming	Price	Based On	Package Manager
91 Solus	-	Scratch	eopkg package manager (PiSi fork)
-- Garuda Linux	-	-	-
87 Manjaro	-	Arch Linux	pamac
-- Pop!_OS	FREE	-	-
86 Arch Linux	-	Independent	Pacman

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22 Other Games Considered

Garuda Linux

Top Pro

Super fast

Uses vram, and a zen kernel. See More

Top Con

Needs a lot of RAM

Minimum is 4GB, for most Linux distributions it's 2GB or less. See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Easy entrance to Arch Linux

Filled to the brim with lots of quality-of-life changes and optimizations that are simple enough for long-time Windows, long-time Mac users, and Arch newbies to understand. Though, it also leads to bloat or not necessarily helpful extra software. If you're not into the "bloat" added in, try checking out the barebones version, you'll need to know a lot of things bout Arch to fully use barebones. See More

Top Pro

Themes

The dr460nized KDE theme is awesome. See More

Top Pro

Highly customized interface

You already have most of the customization done for you out of the box. See More

Top Pro

Gnome

The Gnome edition is very responsive and tastes like cow. See More

See All

Manjaro

Top Pro

Steam installed by default

Top Con

Bad dependencies

This is similar to the mac0S experience in that you're not allowed to remove plank. See More

SensibleKhnum's Experience

Seems faster than any other distro in gaming See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Pretty UI

Balanced colors, icons, and wallpaper. See More

Top Con

Slightly bloated

Top Pro

Excellent graphical package manager (Pamac)

Features include: providing notifications of available updates; mirror management; Snap support, Flatpak support and AUR support (with the option to suppress unnecessary confirmations during the install process); update settings (frequency, whether to check for updates from the AUR, packages to ignore updates for); and a history of packages installed, updated, or removed (from the official repositories - AUR packages are not currently tracked). See More

Top Con

Installing software with pamac takes more clicks than necessary

Mostly due to GTK3. See More

Top Pro

Arch User Repository access

Manjaro allows the user to access of the Arch User Repository, a very large user-maintained repository of packages for Arch Linux and derivatives. See More

Top Con

Uses systemd

Top Pro

Installation is a breeze

Calamares installer and MHWD is the reason why this distribution is good for desktop user- friendliness! Audio codecs, latest packages,latest kernel and easy upgrade to the latest build makes it the best choice for new users. See More

Top Con

Weekly manual updates

Since it is rolling release, it needs updates nearly every week, which (though are checked for automatically) must be manually downloaded, confirmed and installed. That may annoy or scare off many new users. See More

Top Pro

Uses low memory

By using Xfce or Plasma (or LXDE, Fluxbox, supported by community) as default desktop environments, Manjaro is able to have a low memory footprint. See More

Top Con

Must set locale manually, and if not set, will result in certain issues

Issues include the gnome-terminal not opening up. See More

Top Pro

Friendly community

If you ask questions of users in their forums or on other platforms, they are willing to help you. Also according to the developers, they are open to new ideas in order to make the distro better. See More

Top Con

ARM version just got dropped

Top Pro

Support for multiple kernels

Manjaro has built-in support for multiple kernels as well as a way to easily install them. See More

Top Con

Redundant

It's just Arch Linux with an easier installer so there is no reason to use it. See More

Top Pro

Nvidia drivers installs without command line

Nvidia drivers installs by three clicks! See More

Top Con

Calls itself "stable," but actually just holds Arch Linux repositories back for a week

Top Pro

Different editions to select from + Manjaro community

You can choose between different Manjaro editions which have their own change in features, and there is also Manjaro community editions where the community can make their own changes. See More

Top Con

The Manjaro unstable repository is slow to sync with the Arch stable repository

The Manjaro unstable repository syncs with the Arch stable repository and if any package has moved, it gets moved to stable. Manjaro gets package updates a bit than Arch. See More

Top Pro

Good documentation and forum

The Manjaro community is very helpful, and there are lots of tutorials. See More

Top Con

A start job is running for LiveMedia MHWD Script

No timeout on a boot script that can't easily be diagnosed. See More

Top Pro

Manjaro provides its own distribution-specific tools such as the Manjaro Hardware Detection (mhwd) utility, and the Manjaro Settings Manager (msm)

Run automatically during the installation process, it allows for Manjaro to work fully on your system 'straight out of the box', without the need to manually identify and install the necessary drivers or to manually edit the appropriate configuration files. Also usable via the terminal after installation, the features of the mhwd command include: The choice of free (i.e. open-source) or non-free (i.e. proprietary) drivers Identification and listing (general or detailed) of your system's hardware Identification and listing (general or detailed) of installed drivers Listing of available drivers for installation (free and proprietary) Support of hybrid graphics cards (e.g. Nvidia Optimus) Easy removal and installation of drivers (selected automatically, or you can identify and choose your own) See More

Top Con

A fair amount of the documentation is outdated or incomplete

Not a huge deal though, due to the similarity with Arch. See More

Top Pro

MHWD offers easy hardware management with free and non-free drivers

Decent GUI for selecting video drivers, and easily installing and switching between multiple kernel versions. See More

Top Con

Can still be unstable

Here are the details of it. See More

Top Pro

Community flavors available

Spins/versions include : Budgie, Cinnamon, Deepin, GNOME, i3, lxqt, mate, xfce, kde, minimal. See More

Top Con

New packages and security updates are held for testing longer

Packages are usually about two weeks behind Arch's stable repository. While some urgent security updates are released as soon as they become available, other security updates are held for testing longer. See More

Top Pro

Based on Arch and user friendly

Manjaro is an Arch-based distribution with all the benefits of the Arch ecosystem and community but with the added benefit of being much more user-friendly than Arch. See More

Top Con

You can't change the default theme in certain applications

Although it is possible to change the default dark theme, this has no effect on Firefox, which appears to have the dark theme "hard coded". Hardened Linux pros may find a way to change this, but for the rest, it renders an otherwise nice distro a no-go. See More

Top Pro

Very good looking desktops

All desktops look good by default. See More

Top Con

Nothing new

There is nothing new in Manjaro compared to any other Arch based distribution. See More

Top Pro

Improved stability due to a longer testing period for new packages

Packages from Arch's repositories are tested (about two weeks) longer for stability and compatibility issues. Patches are applied, when necessary, before being made available in the stable repositories. See More

Top Con

Installation is extremely buggy

There's no easy way to switch from local keyboard layout if non-Latin installer language is selected. See More

Top Pro

A rolling-release distribution

Manjaro uses a rolling release method for all updates, so once a system is installed, as long as the user regularly updates there is no need to re-install. See More

Top Con

Same cons that apply to Arch Linux

Since it is based on Arch Linux. See More

Top Pro

Stable and consistently up to date

Manjaro receives regular updates, but more importantly these updates are stable. The updates are rolled out, which means you can easily update the software without needing to re-install. See More

Top Con

No gfvs pre-installed

So no Trash (and possibly smartphone file system access via USB) support. See More

Top Pro

AUR support disabled by default

Top Con

Very slow development for 32-bit hardwares

ArchLinux-32 community maintain their forums every day. They upload new ISO's every month. But Manjaro-32 community upload new ISO's in every 6 month. And provide only a DE-mate. See More

See All

Pop!_OS

Top Pro

A separate NVIDIA version

Most linux distros seem to hate Nvidia's graphics cards e.g. Fedora and OpenSUSE. System76 have decided to be kind. They have decided to form a good relationship with Nvidia fans and Nvidia itself. By creating a separate installation media that is dedicated for providing support to Nvidia's graphics cards. Even going as far as putting Nvidia's driver updates on Pop!_Shop for users to easily access and install. See More

Top Con

64-bit only

Some older PCs still have 32-Bit processors. This limitation will be a major con for those who use an older PC since they will not be able to install, run it in a VM or live media. See More

DecisiveMerope's Experience

Never been a Gnome fan, but Pop!_OS changed that. Great distribution for work and play. The repositories have everything I need, unlike Ubuntu, and the included proprietary and Vulkan drivers make gaming excellent. See More

Top Pro

Ready to play games, out of the box

If you still miss how easy it was to just click-install and play games in Windows, Pop! will give you that similar expectation. See More

Top Con

Significant performance hit in games

Due to it using Mutter + GNOME. It has a significant performance hit in games compared to a distro like Manjaro. See More

CoolWosret's Experience

Ended my distro-hopping. Excellent for both work and play. See More

Top Pro

User-friendly installer

The visually appealing and easy to use installer makes dual booting as easy as it can be. See More

Shaun Prince's Experience

Depending on how much effort you like putting into building your Linux gaming rig, setup can be a very time consuming sport. As I would typically start with Debian, and end up with a Frankenstein that would resemble Gentoo, POP! takes a different approach. With the NVIDIA version of this OS, enough assumptions are made that you get a completely usable foundation that is good enough for the average gamer, while sill allowing the advanced users to tweak on it. See More

Top Pro

Optimized for modern hardware

Whereas normally, to use a brand new computer with a Linux OS, you would typically try to use unstable and sometimes buggy drivers - or struggle without hardware support until a stable release comes along. See More

Top Pro

Hybrid GPU mode

This mode allows user to run entire desktop on integrated gpu and nvidia or AMD dedicated gpu is in power saving state. User can launch any application dedicated gpu with right click option. See More

Top Pro

Nice gnome theme dy default

Has nice gnome theme looks really good. See More

Top Pro

Pop! makes GNOME look really good

If you're a fan of flat desktop interfaces reminiscent of Material design on Android, you'll like the theme that comes as a default in Pop! OS. The desktop and title bars all use a bright turquoise theme that makes the interface feel happy and borderline retro-chic. I found it to be like something you'd find printed on a ringer t-shirt. See More

Top Pro

Made by a hardware seller

System76 is a hardware company. It configures machines to ship with Linux pre-installed. This means its entire business model centers around delivering a quality desktop Linux experience. As a result, the company pours more attention onto the desktop. It can fix visual issues and may be able to provide a smoother overall experience than you would have installing a different version of Linux on your machine yourself. Providing Pop!_OS also empowers System76 to make certain fixes for users directly rather than having to coordinate with Canonical or the broader Ubuntu community. See More

Top Pro

Default Flatpak support

Pop shop has flatpak support by default See More

Top Pro

Tiling window management

Pop shell allows user to manage windows with auto tiling. And use hotkeys or vim bindings to move around (forget mouse). See More

See All

Arch Linux

Top Pro

A package for almost everything

If you need to install something, chances are someone in the Arch community has already made a package for it. This makes it incredibly easy for you to install and maintain all of the non-media content on your computer. See More

Top Con

Not for the faint of heart

Arch only holds your hand a little bit of the way. While documentation is great, you are expected to know what you're doing. The result is that when you find the solution for a problem on a forum or elsewhere, the response may be completely over your head. If you're not well-versed in Linux, what would be a minor issue on another distribution can become a drawn-out research project on Arch, as you learn all the inner workings of the operating system, until you understand it well enough to solve your problems yourself. See More

InsightfulCicholGricenchos's Experience

Easy to get gaming with a little patience and reading. See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Cutting edge rolling release

Latest version of softwares and the OS itself. See More

Top Con

Package manager is lacking in some areas

For example, it doesn't allow you to purge (remove package and it's configuration files). See More

Top Pro

Latest drivers

Latest graphics card drivers. See More

Top Con

Fragile packages

Updating an Arch system is always a gamble. The problem could be as simple as a package having a bug causing a program to crash on start or it may be something bigger like the WiFi or Bluetooth no longer working. There is also the slight chance the system may not even boot at all after a large update. If the user does not plan to read the forums weekly/daily or update fairly often, things can go wrong very fast. See More

Top Pro

Highly customizable

Tailor the system to your needs. See More

Top Con

Manual install process

Installing archlinux must be done manually from the command line. See More

Top Pro

Support for a large variety of hardware

From latest wacom pads to obscure wireless cards in laptops Arch's hw support has been and continues to be good. It has worked on laptops where other leading distro's like debian/ mint/ ubuntu failed to detect and work with all hardware. See More

Top Con

Uses Systemd

Top Pro

Fast and simple package management

pacman works much faster than apt-get or yum due to better mirrors than other distributions tend to select by default. There are fewer default repositories to download from though all package management is combined into one tool instead of being split into dpkg, apt-get, and apt-cache like on Debian distros. See More

Top Con

Too many package upgrades that require manual intervention

Every year or so there is a update to ArchLinux that will break your system unless you first read the front page of archlinux.org. This happened with SystemD and with a few other updates that require you to do prior steps befor pacman -Syu. See More

Top Pro

As slim or copious as you want it

Arch keeps its core repositories slim and free of unnecessary dependencies. At first installation only a bare system is set up. You can easily get the other applications through the package manager. The repositories are nearly as full as those of Ubuntu, while they are often more up to date. That way you don't have to waste time with software you don't need or want. See More

Top Con

Problems with driver/kernel/gpu consistency

Arch has no proper desktop support, you must craft your system together. Things may work for the first but generally it takes days to configure a stable and working system. This is NOT ideal for a desktop user. See More

Top Pro

Simplicity is absolutely the principal objective behind Arch development

The design approach of the development team focuses on elegance, code correctness, minimalism, and simplicity, and expects the user to be willing to make some effort to understand the system's operation. See More

Top Con

Rolling release requires bandwidth

Arch uses a rolling release model for updates. Unlike, for example Ubuntu where a new version is released every six months, packages are updated when they are ready. The advantage is a very up to date system and that the work of upgrading can be spread over a longer span of time to a point where it is hardly noticeably effort. However it can be difficult for people without a high bandwidth connection, or with limits on how many GB can be downloaded imposed by their internet service providers. A GB a month of downloads is quite possible. This can be somewhat offset by Arch being lightweight, besides the relatively small core, the user selects what is installed (and has to be updated). See More

Top Pro

Excellent documentation

Arch's goal of simplicity means there's usually one preferred way to get things done - through organized and well documented configuration files. This focus, combined with the community's recognition that configuration files can be intimidating, has resulted in excellent documentation that's accessible to newcomers, and very instructive about how Linux actually works. The documentation is often so thorough that, when searching for solutions to problems while using other distributions, such as with video card drivers, oftentimes you'll find the most effective solution in the Arch Linux wiki or on the forums. See More

Top Con

Requires some background with Linux and the command-line to setup

Going in with zero Linux knowledge is not really recommended when wanting to install Arch, though it can be a good learning experience for those that are dedicated to trial and error as well as reading many faqs. See More

Top Pro

Helpful for understanding how Linux is installed

Arch does not come with an automatic installation process. The user is expected to walk through the installation steps published on the Arch wiki. This is very useful if, later, something happens to the installation as the user will be more familiar with the foundational steps required to get a full blown Arch installation working. See More

Top Con

Not ready out of the box

You have to install your day-to-day software requirements manually. See More

Top Pro

Arch Linux Wiki

The Arch Linux Wiki is very useful not just for Arch Linux users, but for anyone who uses Linux. See More

Top Con

Not ready out of the box

You have to install your day-to-day software requirements manually. See More

Top Pro

Good overall system quality

QoL of Arch is generally good. You get something more consistent and doable in Arch then you would get with most other OSes. See More

Top Con

Not so great overall

Apart from the ArchBuildSystem/AUR, which brings you newer package versions very quickly, there is not really much where Arch Linux shines. You get better package managers with other systems. The most Linux distributions are far more stable than Arch. You learn more about Linux by using LFS or a source based distribution. You can customize the system much more in LFS or Gentoo. See More

Top Pro

Helpful community

If searching through the wiki or the forums for any problems turns nothing, any question on the official forums, Arch subreddit or the IRC channel will be answered within minutes. There will probably be no hand-holding however, Arch users prefer to point anyone to a resource that may help them instead of trying to outright solve their problem in a forum thread. This is quite helpful for people who want to really learn how their system works but also for other people who may stumble in that thread considering how most problems don’t have a universal solution. See More

Top Con

Requires expert Linux and command-line knowledge to setup

Going in with zero Linux knowledge is not really recommended when wanting to install Arch, though it can be a good learning experience for those that are dedicated to trial and error as well as reading many faqs. See More

Top Pro

Intuitive and easy to use package manarer

Pacman is the best package manager I have used so far. It has options for everything. See More

Top Con

Instability can be an issue

Sometimes you can have a surprise, but in most cases it can be fixed quickly. See More

Top Pro

Huge Repositories

Although Arch Linux only comes with around 10,000 packages, you can use the Arch User Repositories (AUR) which will add over 50,000 more packages. See More

Top Con

Pacman is a slow package manager

Compared to other distribution packages the extracting of a pacman package archives is taking ages. See More

Top Pro

Rolling updates

Updating will keep the whole OS up to date (unlike Ubuntu/Debian/etc. where occasionally you will need to perform major version updates). See More

Top Con

No graphical installer

Although some derivatives such as Manjaro and ArcoLinux exist. See More

Top Pro

Simple by design

Arch Linux is actually incredibly simple. It's really just a partition scheme, package manager, Linux kernel, file system, systemd and the bare minimum of utilities needed to easily set up your hardware. This makes it super simple to build your desired system using binary packages because there no bloat getting in your way when installing or configuring packages. See More

Top Con

Pacman is a slow package manager

Compared to other distribution packages the extracting of a pacman package archives is taking ages. See More

Top Pro

Low maintenance

To basically keep your Arch setup up and running, it takes very little to barely any maintenance. See More

Top Con

Not really for desktop

More like for posting screenshots on Reddit. See More

Top Pro

Highly reliable and stable build

See experts working on the packages and upgrades. Given Arch splits the load among people who care and have the experience, the overall setup is very stable and reliable, even though very broad too. See More

Top Con

Lost its way

It aimed to be KISS but it has lost its way and is getting more and more complex, for example, it uses systemd which is anything but KISS. It also has now some kind of package post configuration included. See More

Top Pro

Vanilla

Learn about Arch, learn about Linux. What works for Arch, works for many other distros too. See More

Top Con

Occasional upstream package bugs

Most package maintainers look for issues that the packages might have ispecifically for arch. Which means if a package has a bug that applies to all Linux distros regardless of the flavor, the maintainer may not be able to: A) catch it before pushing a update or B) have to wait for the packages developers to fix it. This is a minor issue because most issues are often patched before the end of the day if many users rely on it, or if its a less used package there will be specific troubleshooting instructions on the arch site. See More

Top Pro

It is Linux at the core

This distro is barebones enough to make a new distro from. See More

Top Con

Works only on AMD64

It is the only official supported instruction set of CPUs. See More

Top Pro

Incredible educational value

Arch gives great insight in the inner workings of operating systems, computers and data manipulation. See More

Top Con

Documentation only makes sense if you know how to adjust it

While the documentation is a very valuable reference for experts, the recipes often don't actually work on your own computer. Some articles are outdated, incomplete, contradictory or duplicated. Only if you are expert enough to know which steps to skip, to adjust or which other documentation parts to plug in, you can make it work. See More

Top Pro

Excellent package management with the AUR

The AUR is a repository with a very extensive catalogue of build/install scripts that are contributed by users. While these scripts are inherently less secure than conventional packages maintained by a distro's authors, it's still way easier to verify the security of install scripts than it would be to write them yourself. It's very usefull. See More

Top Pro

An opportunity to improve

The process of learning to setup and use Arch will improve your skills with Linux and computers in general. See More

Top Pro

No need for external repos

The default and community repo of Arch Linux are so vast, that there is barely any need for additional software sources. And if there is, the additional software can be added to AUR, which results in the need actually growing the Arch repos. See More

Top Pro

Good for ricing for r/unixporn

Top Pro

You actually learn a LOT of the inner workings of your OS.

Since you do everything by hand and a LOT of it, you actually learn very useful things even for other distros. See More

Top Pro

Vast variety of use and purpose

With its vast repos, Arch offers tons of applications for all kinds of use. See More

Top Pro

Great for low performance hardware

Arch Linux works quite well with low performance hardware like netbooks. See More

Top Pro

Experts working on the packages

Providers only provide the basic system and do a great job doing so. While with AUR people who actually use the packages, provide and maintain them. They CARE about making them work. See More

Top Pro

Incredibly easy to manage

Arch is very simple to maintain, backup and in rare cases repair and recover. For example, the manual to recover your boot manager is already in the install guide! See More

Top Pro

Great hardware support

Out of the box Arch comes with great hardware support. See More

Top Pro

Flexible upgrades

Upgrade once a day, once a week, once a month,... three times a day... automate it, upgrade manually, add packages to the ignore list. See More

Top Pro

Completely signed repos by default

Arch-based distros, or even Arch installers, often use unsigned repositories. See More

Top Pro

Arch Linux Archive lets you choose your own update schedule

Despite being rolling release Arch Linux lets you be flexible about your update policy. If distro repos moved forward, but you don't want to update, you can temporarily switch to Arch Linux Archive, which stores repo snapshots across time. Later, when you're ready to update, you switch back to bleeding edge. See More

Top Pro

Multilib support is just around the corner

Just uncomment the according entries in the pacman.conf. See More

Top Pro

Ultimate mid-range OS for Tinkering

If you like to tinker with things and see how they work you don't get much better than arch linux unless you commit to building your own kernel and using flags manually when installing your packages. See More

Top Pro

Stripped down to the bone

Since its stripped down, it is fast and you don't have to deal with bloatware. See More

Top Pro

Minimal

If you need something, you should install it. It has nothing as default and you can build your system from zero. See More

Top Pro

Great security out of the box

Even a default Arch setup offers great security with the minimum number of open ports and very little information on the system for outsiders. See More

Top Pro

Easier to review the distributions packages

Unlike other some distributions, it's super simple to review the packages you download on the official arch repos or arch user repository. See More

Top Pro

Highly reliable upgrades

Always works. No matter if you upgrade 7 or 700 packages. See More

Top Pro

No restrictive handholding, pure control over everything

Arch is mainly aimed at experienced Linux users, there is no hand-holding and not much in a way of UI elements when trying to install or tweak settings. See More

Top Pro

On average only 1 manual intervention needed a year now

The comments about issues with upgrades are over-exaggerated. Those comments assume that : A) They happen often, B) you are using a specific package with an issue, C) that package maintainers can't release a patch to the package that will work around the issue for you, and that D) Manual intervention or system recovery from such issues is hard to fix. On average once or twice a year a user may have to cut and paste some commands in the terminal to fix an issue, but that's about it. Additionally any system recovery required from such missed interventions is easy, just follow the wiki and make a live USB if your using a desktop or laptop. See More

Top Pro

Helpful 3rd-party installers

There are extremely helpful 3rd-party installers such as Anarchy Linux (Formerly Arch Anywhere). See More

Top Pro

Supports various desktop environments and window managers

Doesn't limit you in terms of desktop environments or graphical servers (X, Wayland). See More

See All

Linux Mint

Top Pro

Already functional out-of-the-box

Mint comes bundled with software for browsing the web, editing pictures, browsing files, watching videos and even a full office suite (LibreOffice). An average user can use Mint right away after a fresh install, using all the software that comes with the distribution to complete most of their daily tasks. See More

Top Con

XFCE is also an unstable desktop

It crashes while I am using it in distros other than Linux Mint like Sparky Linux. See More

AgreeableCaoGuojiu's Experience

I liked this system, but hated the desktop environments for it. Also, Software center apps are outdated and that bothered me. See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Familiar user interface

Mint is highly recommended for both users coming from Windows, as well as users coming from Ubuntu, but unhappy with Ubuntu's recent, rather dramatic interface changes. Mint provides an updated interface with a look and feel similar to Gnome 2, with an application menu reminiscent of the Windows 7 Start Menu, with categorization and search. See More

Top Con

Does not handle multiple languages well

For example, no utilities for kana/kanji input are included for Japanese support. See More

Top Pro

Complete and stable

It's based upon Ubuntu LTS or Debian. It depends on which one you select - Linux Mint or Linux Mint Debian Edition. The Debian Edition is even more stable. See More

Top Con

Cinnamon desktop is unstable

The Cinnamon desktop environment crashes frequently while I am using it. See More

Top Pro

Provides LTS (long term support) versions

Long Term Support versions are versions of software that are continuously updated for an extended period of time, even after newer versions are launched. LTS versions will typically get feature additions and enhancements for an extended period of time, then security updates up until its End of Life. An LTS release should typically be considered good for at least 5 years. See More

Top Con

Outdated software centers

Many of the offered options are older versions. See More

Top Pro

The OS is great for both beginners and advanced users

The OS has different update settings for different users and has easy manual within the OS. See More

Top Pro

Easy updates/Auto

Top Pro

Easy installation and configuration

Linux Mint uses the same installer as Ubuntu. It is very easy to use for beginners, and also allows more advanced users to choose their own partitions. Linux Mint's Cinnamon desktop is highly customizable and can be made to look however preferred. See More

Top Pro

Compatibility with Debian and Ubuntu software builds and repositories

Mint gains a very strong package ecosystem and software manager of Debian, including more than 30,000 packages available from the Debian repositories. See More

Top Pro

Supports proprietary software

Linux Mint does maintain a free software environment, however, it does offer full support to proprietary software (Chrome, Skype, Teamviewer). See More

Top Pro

There is a "system restore" tool to restore the OS if something breaks

This tool backs up the core OS files to an external drive with an option for full encryption. See More

Top Pro

Dedicated upgrade process

The Linux Mint team is very dedicated to upgrading and improving Mint, to the point where the releases are fairly predictable. They are also dedicated to their users, meaning that they are responsive to critiques, suggestions, etc. See More

Top Pro

Has more desktop options

You can choose between Cinnamon, MATE and XFCE. See More

Top Pro

Pretty desktop

Linux Mint has a quite pretty default desktop. Cinnamon is adopted by other distros also. See More

Top Pro

Low learning curve to go from installation to advanced configuration

Mint is extremely easy to install, and with community support, easy to move onto adjusting the OS to meet your specific needs. The vast majority of instructions for undertaking configuration work and are easy to understand. See More

Top Pro

2016 hack listed here as a Con, was very quickly dealt with and is a non-issue over 4 years later.

Top Pro

Mint 20 will actively avoid the Snap landmine planted by Canonical in Ubuntu 20.04.

Top Pro

The easiest option ever

The distro is the easiest operating system to run ever. See More

Top Pro

Not from a big company

Linux Mint is not Canonical, while based upon Ubuntu. See More

Top Pro

Good community support

There are several different ways to get support for this distribution, including the forums, their IRC channel, or their github repositories if you think their software isn't behaving as it should. See More

See All

Fedora

Top Pro

Fast performance

Top Con

Proprietary drivers are unsupported

Fedora does not support proprietary drivers, meaning that users may have problems with a lot of hardware when using Fedora. The software to make that kind of hardware work can be installed, but it can be done only through third-parties and it's not easy for the average user. See More

IngeniousEiresione's Experience

With couple offre tweaks, it's the best distribution out there See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Spins and Labs

Spins are images with a different WM/DE, and Labs are filled with a specific theme of packages. See More

Top Con

No rolling release

Fedora isn't easy to upgrade without having to make a new installation disk. See More

AgreeableCaoGuojiu's Experience

I had to reinstall Fedora every year to keep it up to date. Also, the system is now a minimal OS. See More

Top Pro

Integration with GNOME

It perhaps has the best integration with GNOME (GNOME software works out of the box). See More

Top Con

No Software Center

It was removed in Fedora 34. See More

SplendidEnkidu's Experience

I have used fedora as a daily driver for about 3 years now. It allows you to learn RHEL ,which is a good skill, but in terms of use there are better distros. There is a new implementation called flatpack, which is the new app delivery method but you can get by with dnf and rpm repos. You are able to do some heavy-duty projects but also run things like steam games extremely smoothly. If you don't care about troubleshooting a systemd distro, then there really isn't a reason not to get Arch or Ubuntu. I really like fedora, but I just wanted to warn anyone who thinks they are getting something extra, the extra stuff is boring to most people. See More

Top Pro

Minimalist GNOME.

Fedora Workshop does not come with bloatware. It is a minimal GNOME installation, which makes it very simple and nice to use out of the box. See More

Top Con

Not for beginners

It is not a user-friendly distro like ubuntu, PCLos. You will be required to learn a lot of commands even for simple activities. See More

Top Pro

Always up to date Kernel

Fedora is known to be up to date, using the latest kernel in a matter of weeks after being released. It has a good balance among stability and bleeding edge. More up to date kernel = better compatibility with drivers for gaming. See More

Top Con

Unstable

Some packages may break, because there isn't an option to test them before rolling them out. See More

Top Pro

Stable

Fedora is a very stable Linux-based OS, as the developers place a lot of value in quality engineering. See More

Top Con

dnfdragora needs work

As the default package installer, this piece of software needs a lot more polish. It's not explicit in saying things are installed, more granularity in package selection is needed, and the ability to move columns around to see if you're installing the correct version. See More

Top Pro

Great community

Want to find an answer to a question: Fedora community, Rhel community, CentOS community are most active and friendly communities. See More

Top Con

No rolling release

Fedora isn't easy to upgrade without having to make a new installation disk. See More

Top Pro

Focuses on innovation

By using bleeding edge software, Fedora allows for innovation to take place by testing out things which other distros are not willing to try due to fears of having instability issues. See More

Top Con

Too many changes to upstream packages leading to a "Fedora way" of doing things

Linux should be linux, but Fedora is constantly introducing breakage and changes which move things in the wrong direction and make things worse for everyone. See More

Top Pro

Strong commitment to free software philosophy

Top Con

Updating to new release can be problematic

While there are a few tools on offer that will upgrade an old Fedora release to the newest, there can often be problems with these methods. Some that may not even crop up at first but will show later down the road. Being that upgrading can be an issue, it can be exacerbated by the fact that Fedora updates every six month, which means twice a year there is a risk of completely borking ones install. See More

Top Pro

Upstream to Enterprise Linux

Yes some say its a different way of thinking, but it leads to the pro way of linux. It's in the end the upstream version of enterprise linux and therefor the pro way of thinking. See More

Top Pro

Fast and stable updates

Top Pro

Backed by one of the biggest Linux kernel contributors

Fedora is backed by RedHat, the 2nd biggest Linux kernel contributor in the world. Using a distribution made by RedHat means that it will be fine-tuned to work as efficiently as possible since it's made by the same people who work extensively on the kernel and know its ins and outs. See More

Top Pro

Huge array of binary packages ready to install

Top Pro

Frequent updates to latest versions of software, so quick security and other bug fixes

Latest version software often means quick bug fixes, more useful features. For example, if you're a daily user of TeX in your work, the latest TeX distro is a must. It's also useful to be able to use recent external hardware such as USB wifi dongles or printers. See More

Top Pro

Linus Torvalds distro of choice

Top Pro

Create user after the installation

Very good for selling PC‘s with Fedora. See More

Top Pro

Very good integration with Flatpak and Snap Packages

Top Pro

Frees developers from some backward compatibility restraints

Fedora has a relatively short life cycle: version X is supported only until 1 month after version X+2 and with approximately 6 months between versions this means that a version of Fedora is supported for approximately 13 months. This promotes leading-edge software because it frees developers from some backward compatibility restraints. See More

See All

Gentoo Linux

Top Pro

Can by optimized to any given CPU by using proper compile flags

Since everything is being built on your PC you can fine-tune the code to make use of your CPU. And all it requires is two lines of string variables in a global config. See More

Top Con

Since everything must be compiled it takes a lot longer to update

And if you have to update the kernel or some heavy software like Chromium it can takes hours if not more on weaker hardware. See More

Top Pro

Full control of the software

You build the package from a source you can see and read. You decide which features you want to build in and which aren't needed. You can choose build options, optimisation and whatever else fancy stuff you want modified. With a binary distribution this simply isn't possible. See More

Top Con

Customized package installation can take a long time and cause installation failures

The Gentoo package management system allows you to configure what compilation flags packages should support - i.e. specific processor flag support (SSE, SSE2, etc.), -O1, -O2, -O3 optimization, etc. If you accept one of the default flags, Gentoo downloads binaries from the server. However, if you decide to optimise, it can and will download all source packages and start compiling allthe programs and libraries on your system. If your chosen flags don't work with a particular library, installation will fail. See More

Top Pro

Portage's emerge is powerful

Portage is a package management system with a huge amount of options and features. See More

Top Con

Not beginner-friendly

You have to read a lot of instructions to start, even if you are familiar with Linux. Furthermore, as you have to configure the kernel and init system, expect some boot failures at beginning. See More

Top Pro

Portability

There are many architectures available for Gentoo : i386, x86-64, PowerPC, PowerPC 64, sparc, DEC Alpha, ARM, MIPS, PA-RISC, S390, IA-64, sh, m68k. See More

Top Pro

Fully customizable

The usage of advanced features like USE flags makes it more customizable than any binary distribution. See More

Top Pro

Documentation and community are second to none

Provides a whole handbook to refer to during setup and usage. See More

Top Pro

A very large collection of software is available

There are more than 19.000 packages available in the official repository. And even more with overlays. See More

Top Pro

Gentoo does not impose a standard look-and-feel

Top Pro

Live USB installation

Installation via a Live USB allows you to go back and fix mistakes from it without having to restart the whole installation process. See More

Top Pro

Can be officially systemd-free

Gentoo's default init system is OpenRC. Gentoo also officially supports systemd-free Gnome and udev. Users are free to choose any init system they want. See More

Top Pro

Great for anyone who is serious about learning the intricacies of Linux

It's useful for both beginners and professionals. For the installation, Gentoo offers various types, which are referred to as stages. Basically meaning how in depth you would want to go into the process of installation. For beginners it's useful to choose for a starting distro due to its various stages that can be very time consuming but beneficial as you learn the composition in general of Linux. See More

Top Pro

Freedom

You are free to do whatever you want with it. As a result, its configuration reflects your unique taste and personality. See More

See All

Zorin OS

Top Pro

Good Selection of pre-installed software

New users may be unaware of what software is available for Linux, but Zorin includes a good selection for everyday tasks out of the box. See More

Top Con

Limited but sufficiently 3 desktop styles in free version

All free editions only offer Windows XP, 2000, and 7 and Gnome 2. You have to pay $9-10 in order to get Unity (Ubuntu) and Mac OS X themes. See More

HappyFebris's Experience

Very charming feel using this! See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Partial Windows compatibility

Zorin includes WINE and PlayOnLinux to run many Windows applications and games. See More

Top Pro

Bundles tools for changing the look and feel of the distribution

Zorin includes look changer and theme changer. See More

Top Pro

Ubuntu-based

Zorin is compatible with Ubuntu's sizable repositories of Free Software. See More

Top Pro

Low resources consumption

Top Pro

Stable

Top Pro

Windows desktop style

The desktop UI was made to resemble Windows 7, but alternative settings are available. See More

Top Pro

Installer can set up dual boot

Top Pro

Accessibility features

See All

SteamOS

Top Pro

Made for gaming

SteamOS is built by Valve specifically to run on machines for gaming on Linux. See More

Top Con

Not built around the desktop experience

SteamOS is, first and foremost, meant to act as a gaming console - it doesn't ship with even some of the most basic applications, such as a file manager or image viewer. As a result, using SteamOS as your primary operating system would require a fair bit of work. See More

TirelessKydoimos's Experience

I am enjoying this debian based distro. I play not only linux games but also mac, windows games through streaming. What I need else ? I could not play three OS'es games in an OS without it. ☺ See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Native graphics processor support

The OS natively supports Nvidia, Intel, and AMD graphics processors. See More

Top Con

Hard to install

If you've installed Arch you're probably fine, but for those used to simple installs like (Ubuntu to name just one) you should prepare some patience, determination, and painkillers. Good news is, it's getting better (it's very young). See More

SensibleHunor's Experience

yes See More

Top Pro

Streaming service integration (under development)

Valve is in talks with streaming companies such as Spotify and Netflix to bring their features to SteamOS. See More

Top Con

Steam OS is simi-abandoned.

Valve no longer frequently updates SteamOS. See More

Top Pro

For entertainment, it just works

What media center software do for videos, it does for games (and later videos). See More

See All

RebornOS

Elementary OS

Top Pro

UI design consistency

Excellent uniformity between all the stock application and an overall extremely clean design with simple animations. See More

Top Con

UI doesn't let you change anything

Every installation of elementaryOS looks excactly like the same. See More

IncredibleWhiro's Experience

it sucked See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Extremely user-friendly

This distribution promises you a very tailored user experience and it does deliver on that promise. The developers provide you with a custom desktop environment and a set of neat programs. And the whole desktop looks simply gorgeous. See More

Top Con

Very slow development cycle

Elementary does not offer any release date for their stable releases, they're going more with a "it's done when it's done" attitude. This makes depending on newer apps a difficulty as well as a poor choice for those that need consistent release schedules for their OS. See More

Top Pro

Built on Ubuntu

Built on Ubuntu LTS with all its qualities and support. See More

Top Con

Not very configurable

Top Pro

If you like MacOSX the UI/UX is similar

Top Con

No proprietary driver installer

Elementary OS removed the driver installer of Ubuntu. See More

Top Pro

Lightweight & fast

Runs well on limited-resources hardware, including netbooks or chromebooks. See More

Top Con

Old base and applications

The slow release schedule makes the applications outdated. It drags behind Ubuntu LTS (on which it's based) which itself drags behind Ubuntu which is often still quite far behind Arch for example. See More

Top Pro

With new tweak tools, customization is not a problem

Now the OS is amazingly customizable. See More

Top Con

Problems with basic functions

Problems often arise with functions like keyboard layout and touchpad. See More

Top Pro

A dedicated StackExchange site

Elementary OS has a dedicated StackExchange site where users can easily find answers to common questions. See More

Top Con

Upper panel requires extra spaces

The upper panel in Elementary OS requires more space. This can be a problem for computers with small monitors. See More

Top Pro

Consistent development practices

All Elementary apps are written in Vala and hosted on Launchpad, and there are standard APIs such as contractor for applications to interact with one another. This is different from most distros, in which apps are written in a variety of languages. This design decision makes it easy to get started developing for Elementary and to understand how the various pieces fit together. See More

Top Con

Outdated or bad default applications

Top Pro

Simplicity, limited configurability

Sane defaults with less confusion for new users. See More

Top Con

Window control button placement may be unintuitive to some

Elementary OS has window controls on the left side of the window. It may be less intuitive for users coming from other operating systems that put window controls on the right. See More

Top Pro

Active Google+ community

There is a place where Elementary users can ask their questions and usually get answers pretty quickly. Not only by the other users, but the devs are pretty active themselves, often engaging in the discussions on the hows, whys, and plans of the OS. See More

Top Con

Emacs doesn't work

Emacs crashes due to a partial gnome library update. See More

Top Pro

With new tweak tools customisation is not a problem

Now the OS is amazingly customisable See More

Top Con

Quite buggy

Top Con

The desktop doesn't let you to put icons by default

Top Con

Limited and outdated packages

Packages can be very outdated, and many can't be installed from official repos. See More

Top Con

Heavy animations

It has some animations that don‘t run well on older hardware. See More

Top Con

Doesn't support 32-bit hardwares anymore

One can install pantheon DE from new ubuntu's repo but Elementry OS is not making new ISO's nor is it supporting them. It makes confuzzled to new users. See More

See All

Deepin

Top Pro

Steam installed by default

Deepin includes steam installed by default. See More

Top Con

Slow on some computers

Very slow - launching apps takes more time than other distros. On the other hand - booting and shutting down is very fast on SSD. See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Excellent apps

Having Deepin installed also means you have thousands of quality apps to choose from. The apps which come with installation will suit your needs to browse the Internet, listen to music, watch videos, talk with friends, editing documents or simply any task you want to do at home or in your office. See More

Top Con

Customization is a bit hidden

GUI is not straight forward for changing GTK+ or QT themes. See More

Top Pro

Based on Debian

It is based on Debian which is the best Linux distribution for desktops. See More

Top Con

Deepin spies on you

The deepin store spies on your every move, it's no better than Windows. See More

Top Pro

Great design of the app store

The app store is gorgeous. See More

Top Con

Team doesn't know what to do

Deepin has changed the base 4 times, and the name 3 times. The Desktop Environment also has been changed 4 times. See More

Top Pro

VLC media player works without any issue

In some cases, VLC media player has some problems with Ubuntu or Ubuntu-based Linux distros. That isn't the case with Deepin. See More

Top Con

Slow default repos

Download speed for packages from the default repos, is abnormally slow if you don't choose the correct sever. See More

Top Pro

Best for daily use

Top Con

Slow

Very slow - launching apps takes more time than other distros - it is a very resource heavy system. On the other hand - booting and shutting down is very fast on SSD. See More

Top Pro

Very easy to install the OS

Installing Deepin is very easy, even easier than installing Ubuntu! The installer doesn't ask you a lot of questions. It doesn't ask you about making a swap partition (it automatically makes a swap file) and thus makes installing the OS very easy. See More

Top Con

Mix of toolkits

GUI is partialy written in QT, but also in GTK+. See More

Top Pro

Contains better graphics drivers

Deepin has it's own version of graphics drivers and it's own version of wine which makes it very good for gaming. See More

Top Pro

Supports Flatpak

Deepin OS supports Flatpak. It also has some Flatpak programs installed by default. See More

Top Pro

Automatically cleans package cache

Deepin automatically cleans package cache. Cleaning package cache is a good thing as it will make the OS much faster and lighter. See More

Top Pro

Includes both Windows and macOS style interface

Top Pro

Not based on Ubuntu

Some people don't like Ubuntu nor its derivatives. See More

Top Pro

Launches programs faster

Programs load and launch faster in Deepin than other Linux distributions. It takes only about 3 seconds to launch Chrome. See More

Top Pro

Exciting applications

It has some exciting applications, such as Deepin Graphics Driver Manager which can easily change between free and proprietary drivers without any issue. See More

Top Pro

Can be made to look like Windows

By default, Deepin looks kinda like macOS but it can be made to look like Windows by right-clicking on the dock and changing the mode from "Fashion Mode" to "Efficient Mode". See More

Top Pro

Enjoy the simplicity of Deepin's desktop

The desktop interface and apps feature an intuitive and elegant design. Moving around, sharing and searching etc. has become simply a joyful experience. See More

Top Pro

Blur and transparent design

Deepin has a blur and transparent design throughout the OS, which makes it one of the, if not the, most beautiful Linux distro. See More

Top Pro

Well-designed in every detail, developers have a professional aproach to the system

Deepin has a sane default set of apps including custom apps of their own design that gives the distro a very consistent look and feel. By working with the community on these tools as well as custom translations there is a great sense of polish when using it that is not often seen when using such a new desktop environment. See More

Top Pro

Has their own tool kit

They have their own tool kit called "Deepin Tool Kit". And they themselves uses it. See More

Top Pro

Quite lightweight

Deepin 15.7 is lighter than Windows 10 and Ubuntu. See More

Top Pro

Easy to use

It's very easy to use. You can easily uninstall a program by going to the menu then right-clicking on the preferred app and selecting "Uninstall" option. See More

Top Pro

Includes a lot of packages in the official repository

The official repository of deepin OS includes over 73,000 packages. See More

Top Pro

Rolling release

It's a rolling release. Meaning that it will get updated automatically. See More

Top Pro

Gives warning messages when upgrading packages using apt

Deepin uses their own modified version of apt. When there is a distribution upgrade available and if we try to upgrade by running "sudo apt upgrade", then this modified version of apt gives this warning message, "DDE programs will work abnormally if run this command. Run sudo apt dist-upgrade or sudo apt full-upgrade instead." See More

Top Pro

Great support for graphics cards

Deepin OS includes a program called "Deepin Graphics Driver Manager" which can easily install a good driver for the graphics card. See More

Top Pro

Very stable

Even though it is based on Debian unstable, it is still pretty stable and you will hardly ever get a dependency issue. See More

See All

VaporOS

Ubuntu

Top Pro

Solid and great driver support

Top Con

Splits the Debian community

The most packages are imported from Debian but Ubuntu uses own bug trackers and develops its own patches. See More

TrustworthyChukwu's Experience

slow and bloated See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Possibly the BEST Forum in the world for easy help, should you need it

Top Con

Problematic to integrate in Windows server environment (Active Directory)

Top Pro

Ubuntu GamePack is a Gamer's Distro based on Ubuntu

Top Con

A tweaked Gnome version

Instead of original Gnome desktop with Ubuntu you get a tweaked Gnome and most of the tweaks makes user experience worse. See More

Top Pro

Support For WINE And Steam

Can Run Most Windows Games And Apps With Steam Official Support See More

Top Con

Unity sucks (no longer present in newer versions)

Bloated unity desktop sucks, but maybe it will be better with 18.04 with Gnome. See More

Top Pro

Simplicity

Ubuntu is designed to be used by everyday people. Because of that, Ubuntu has tried hard to make a user interface that's intuitive and looks pleasant and clean. See More

Top Con

Redundant

With the removal of Unity, there is no point in choosing Ubuntu over Debian anymore because everything else is imported from Debian to Ubuntu. See More

Top Pro

Just works out of the box

Lots of support for hardware, lots of pre-installed software, and a smooth install process means less time downloading drivers, less time digging through configuration files, and less time deciding on software to use just to get up and running. It also means less time digging through forums looking for support. See More

Top Con

Extremely un-customizable

Top Pro

Wide range of software out of the box

The default apps available in Ubuntu cover the gamut of most anyone's needs. From music, video or office applications Ubuntu has an app that will cover the users needs. See More

Top Con

Doesn't shutdown/standby properly on Lenovo laptops (b, e & g series) and desktops (Thinkcentre)

Ubuntu has some serious issue with some Lenovo laptops and desktops. Sometimes, it doesn't shutdown correctly. See More

Top Pro

Lots of support

As the most popular Linux distribution, there's a wide range of sources for support online if you ever need help, including the Ubuntu Wiki, Ubuntu Forums and the Ask Ubuntu Stack Exchange site. This can come in hand particularly with gaming as the large userbase, tutorials and forums will allow one to troubleshoot any issues they have with gaming and their particular rig. See More

Top Con

Unstable

Some people pointed out that updating Arch is a high risk affair. And one should carefully read forums before doing it. The same is true about Ubuntu. Making system updates (like it was with 10.04 to 11.04) that screw so many things up became a routine. Even LTS releases should not give confidence that it will work. See More

Top Con

Binary incompatible to Debian

Ubuntu releases are based on Debian testing/unstable, however, unlike other Debian-based distributions they are not binary compatible due to different libc versions, so you can't install Debian packages in Ubuntu and vice versa. See More

Top Con

Canonical (author) is proprietary

Canonical is focused on making money so you can see many proprietary offers by them and the OS has built-in trackers (Amazon). See More

Top Con

Includes adware

Advertisers pay to have their links or software preinstalled. Like the links to Amazon installed by default in the dock. See More

Top Con

Custom PPAs required for most software

To get the most software available, user must add several PPAs to the system. That has major problems: 1) Terminal recommended for adding a PPA, which can scare away users 2) A PPA can potentially distribute malware by creating a "newer" version of a package than available in other PPAs, such as the Linux kernel. 3) PPAs must be recreated and re-added with every major system update See More

Top Con

Relatively high system requirements

The default GNOME desktop environment is a resource hog which requires hardware accelerated graphics rendering in order to run smoothly, making out of the box Ubuntu unsuitable for low end systems and older hardware. Even mildly aged hardware, you'll get far better performance out of a lighter desktop environment like LXDE or XFCE. See More

Top Con

No rolling release

New Ubuntu versions are released two times a year, during this period almost all software receives only security updates and minor bug fixes. See More

Top Con

Canonical does not respect Ubuntu users' preferences

In 2012 it became impossible in Ubuntu to move the close-window-button back to the upper-right corner of the window, where it always was before. To the questions of their users Canonical replied that they know better than users where it would be convenient for users to have the close-window-button. See More

See All

Ubuntu LTS

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Solus

Top Pro

Easy installation

The installation procedure for this distribution is quite simple. It's GUI based and all you have to do is follow the instructions given by the installation window itself. See More

Top Con

Lack of software in repositories

There is a lack of software in the repositories. This is the only OS where you may have to build some applications from source or install from the app's site within the first month of usage. Though this is most likely because the distro is still relatively new. See More

GardenData61371's Experience

The Distro that ended my Distro hopping. See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Great package management

The software center makes really easy to install the latest software, including third party software. See More

Top Con

Slow development

DecorousAchuguayo's Experience

Solus is so far the most stable platform for gaming I've come into contact with. Many linux distros have weird issues running some games, but Solus appears to be running videogames buttery smooth! See More

Top Pro

Stable

The system itself is very stable. All packages in the repository seem to be carefully picked, well prepared and run stable. See More

Top Con

Systemd

EmpatheticSraosha's Experience

Super stable, fast, best SO ever. See More

Top Pro

Modern desktop environment

The default desktop environment used by Solus is called Budgie and is quite nice and minimalistic. See More

Top Con

The default desktop environment is not very customizable

Maybe due to the fact that it's a relatively new project, Budgie desktop environment of Solus OS is not very customizable. You can only change the theme and wallpaper. Hopefully this issue will be resolved in the future. See More

Top Pro

Optimized

The devs put a lot of working into optimizing system libraries for the best performance. See More

Top Con

It's impossible to get Radeon proprietary drivers

Sadly even Solus creator stated that right now it's impossible to use Radeon proprietary drivers on Solus because it doesnt support .deb packages that are only way of attaining them from AMD. See More

Top Pro

Built from scratch

Top Con

Software a bit slower to launch than for other distributions

Top Pro

Rolling release

Top Con

Forums are not very friendly

Top Pro

Looks great out of the box yet customizable

Budgie has now evolved and is much more customizable than it was in the past. Solus is making great improvements. See More

Top Con

No USB Image writer

Top Pro

Home of LSI (Linux Steam Integration)

The devs put a lot of time into optimizing the distro for optimal performance, LSI is a tool which fixes a lot of bugs and increases integration and performance of Steam games with the system. See More

Top Con

An upgrade breaks the system quite often

Top Pro

Responsive

System boots quickly and stays responsive. Does what operating system should do, and does it really well. See More

Top Con

There is often a black screen after update

Top Pro

Exclusively for desktop systems

Top Pro

Most stable Rolling Release Distro

Top Pro

Seamless packages

It may not have the most obscure packages, but the packages it does have is a good number of everything a Linux user needs. Gamers, developers, desktop users, etc. all have the necessary packages and then some. The packages themselves are integrated perfectly and are very well updated. See More

Top Pro

Generic pre-installed drivers work efficiently

Top Pro

Lightning fast boot time

Top Pro

Rock-solid distro

Very stable and well curated. See More

Top Pro

Seamless Packages

It may not have the most obscure packages, but the packages it does have is a good number of everything a Linux user needs. Gamers, developers, desktop users, etc. all have the necessary packages and then some. The packages themselves are integrated perfectly and are very well updated. See More

Top Pro

Friendly towards proprietary codecs, firmware and drivers

So you won't have to enable PPAs or extra repos for that. See More

Top Pro

Well curated software

The software is well curated in the repos, you have access to flatpaks and snaps, so virtually, all the software you'll ever need is there for you. See More

Top Pro

Friendly community

The only community who values the newcomers. Very helpful community. See More

Top Pro

Default experience is clean and easy

The default desktop experience on the Budgie version is very clean and streamlined. Although the Budgie DE isn't the most customisable, but it's customisable enoughto recreate the desktop style of ElementaryOS with the dock and bar at the top. See More

See All

What is the best Linux Distribution for gaming?

The 1 must play gameWhy?

Solus

My Recommendation for Solus

My Recommendation for Solus

Easy installation

Lack of software in repositories

Great package management

Slow development

Stable

Systemd

Modern desktop environment

The default desktop environment is not very customizable

Optimized

It's impossible to get Radeon proprietary drivers

Built from scratch

Software a bit slower to launch than for other distributions

Rolling release

Forums are not very friendly

Looks great out of the box yet customizable

No USB Image writer

Home of LSI (Linux Steam Integration)

An upgrade breaks the system quite often

Responsive

There is often a black screen after update

Exclusively for desktop systems

Most stable Rolling Release Distro

Seamless packages

Generic pre-installed drivers work efficiently

Lightning fast boot time

Rock-solid distro

Seamless Packages

Friendly towards proprietary codecs, firmware and drivers

Well curated software

Friendly community

Default experience is clean and easy

22 Other Games Considered

Garuda Linux

My Recommendation for Garuda Linux

My Recommendation for Garuda Linux

Super fast

Needs a lot of RAM

Easy entrance to Arch Linux

Themes

Highly customized interface

Gnome

Manjaro

My Recommendation for Manjaro

My Recommendation for Manjaro

Steam installed by default

Bad dependencies

Pretty UI

Slightly bloated

Excellent graphical package manager (Pamac)

Installing software with pamac takes more clicks than necessary

Arch User Repository access

Uses systemd

Installation is a breeze

Weekly manual updates

Uses low memory

Must set locale manually, and if not set, will result in certain issues

Friendly community

ARM version just got dropped

Support for multiple kernels

Redundant

Nvidia drivers installs without command line

Calls itself "stable," but actually just holds Arch Linux repositories back for a week

Different editions to select from + Manjaro community

The Manjaro unstable repository is slow to sync with the Arch stable repository

Good documentation and forum

A start job is running for LiveMedia MHWD Script

Manjaro provides its own distribution-specific tools such as the Manjaro Hardware Detection (mhwd) utility, and the Manjaro Settings Manager (msm)

A fair amount of the documentation is outdated or incomplete

MHWD offers easy hardware management with free and non-free drivers

Can still be unstable

Community flavors available

New packages and security updates are held for testing longer

Based on Arch and user friendly

You can't change the default theme in certain applications

Very good looking desktops