Forget Windows 11: Nobara Linux is the OS for everyone

Jack Wallen\ZDNET

ZDNET's key takeaways

Nobara 40 is available now for free from the official website.It makes for a great out-of-the-box experience for users of all types, with very little to do post-install.Unfortunately, Flatpak app install doesn't seem to work with the package manager GUI.

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Nobara Linux just released a new version of the OS (version 40) and it stands in a unique position within the Linux landscape in that it's one of the few distributions that focuses on users of all types… even gamers. Nobara is a modified version of Fedora Linux, with an added layer of user-friendliness. 

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This take on Fedora includes all the necessary proprietary packages, so "point-and-click" users don't have to worry about installing things like multimedia codecs, the software necessary for streaming, or tweak the OS to better play games. Nobara has all of that rolled into a beautiful desktop operating system that would be a welcome home to Windows 11 users.

Jack Wallen\ZDNET

One thing to keep in mind is that Nobara is not an official spin of Fedora. Although Nobara does use Fedora packages, code, and repositories, this Linux distribution is completely independent.

But what has Nobra changed from Fedora? Here's a sample:

Kernel patched with various patches (such as zen, OpenRGB, amdgpu for pre-polaris cards, steam deck support, etc.).QSG_RENDER_LOOP="basic" set for Nvidia cards (to fix Wayland freezes).
Latest mesa release version for AMD/Intel desktop/GL drivers.
Glibc patched with clone3 disabled.
The dnf max parallel downloads increased to 6.
Gamescope, goverlay, mangohud, and vkbasalt updated regularly.
NVIDIA GPU detection and driver auto-installation.
SDL2 patched to fix NVIDIA framerate issue.
Post-OS-install codec installation.

There are quite a lot of changes that cover a wide array of improvements. You can view the entire list of changes on the Nobara project website.

Although Nobara does seem to cater to gamers, they aren't the only users who would be right at home here. If you need to be productive, there's LibreOffice and InkScape. For web browsing, there's Firefox. And, of course, for gaming, there's Steam, Wine, ProtonPlus, Lutris, Host Remote Play, and Goverlay.

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As for desktop environments, Nobara offers five different versions:

Official - a custom take on the Plasma DesktopGNOME - a clean version of GNOME
KDE - a clean version of Plasma Desktop
Steam-HTPC - customized to look and feel like Steam Deck (for Home Theatre PCs)
Steam-Handheld - customized to look/feel like Steam Deck (built for handheld devices)

I went with the official version to see what the developers did with Plasma Desktop and (no surprise here) they went with a dark theme. Almost immediately after installation, I opened the Steam app, logged in, and was able to start playing games without so much as a hiccup. It did take some time to finalize the app (lots of downloading in the background), so if Steam seems to be doing nothing but spinning its metaphorical wheels, be patient until it completes downloading and installing everything needed.

There's also a handy Web Apps tool that allows you to create web apps, even when using Firefox as your default browser (which doesn't allow for creating web apps from sites out of the box). The Web Apps tool even creates menu entries, so you don't have to first open the software to launch your app.

Jack Wallen\ZDNET

Nobara also includes Flatpak, so if there are apps missing from the menu (and/or the standard repositories), you can install them. Even better, the developers have rolled Flatpak support into the package manager GUI. All you have to do is open the app, click Flatpak at the top center, search for the app you want, and install it. Or so that should be the case. Unfortunately, Yum Extender crashed on me when trying to search for and install a Flatpak app. However, installing from the command line went off without a hitch. For example, to install Slack, the command would be:

And so it goes.

Once installed, the Flatpak is listed within Yum Extender (in the Flatpak tab) but there's still no way to install Flatpak apps from within the GUI app store. Maybe this is something the developers have planned for future launches or maybe it's a bug they've yet to squash.

Time will tell.

The performance of Nobra is just as good as you'd expect from a fork of Fedora. As a virtual machine on my System76 Thelio, Nobara ran like an absolute champ. Of course, one would expect such behavior, given that this distribution targets gamers (among other users). But, as I said earlier, Nobara isn't just for gamers. After using this Linux distribution for a while, it's quite clear that anyone (no matter the experience) could hop onto this desktop operating system and feel right at home (especially either take on Plasma Desktop). 

Also: How to install Steam and start gaming on almost any Linux distro - now it's a Snap

Other than the Flatpak issue, I'm hard-pressed to find fault with Nobara. If I had to really dig in, I would remind anyone looking to make Nobara their default gaming OS that there are limits to the games that can be played via Steam. As you search the Steam Store, make sure you select only games with the Steam icon listed for Platform. If you try to run an app for the Windows platform, it will fail. Don't worry, as there are tons of games available for the Steam platform.

Nobara is a great option for anyone looking to walk away from Windows 11 but still be able to play games and be productive (without having to deal with installing codecs and other necessary software for multimedia playback.

Give Nobara a try and see if it doesn't have you leaving Windows 11 for a more reliable, secure, and flexible OS.