Distro Release

What's new in Bazzite 44, available now

For one thing, Bazzite images are getting faster to download.

Jordan Gloor

Jordan Gloor

— 2 min read
The Bazzite logo over a yellow-to-blue horizontal gradient.

Kyle Gospodnetich has announced the release of Bazzite 44. Being based on Fedora, the announcement comes on the heels of the Fedora 44 release, and it brings several noteworthy updates.

What's new

  • GNOME 50: The ubiquitous desktop environment now comes with fractional scaling, VRR support, and an overhauled settings menu.
  • Plasma 6.6: New to the KDE desktop is the Plasma Login Manger, text recognition in Spectacle, and an overhauled virtual keyboard.
  • Built-in capture card support: The Elgato 4K video capture card can now be used from the start.

What's getting better

  • The OGC kernel: Bazzite's kernel developed in partnership with other projects via the Open Gaming Collective (OGC) has been bumped to 6.19. Kernel 7.0 and its VRAM patches from Valve Gospodnetich promises is on the way.
  • Image downloads: The regular Bazzite images have been reduced in size by 1GB thanks to a shift of some developer-focused tools to the in-progress Bazzite-DX images.
  • Software browsing: Bazzite's signature app store, Bazaar, got bumped to version 0.7.15, which makes several small improvements to the user interface.

What's going away

  • A terminal emulator: The Ptyxis terminal emulator has been dropped from the KDE version of Bazzite.
  • Sunshine streaming by default: The Sunshine streaming tool is no longer preinstalled on images either.

Zooming out

Why this update matters: Bazzite continues to be a go-to Linux distro for those with handheld PCs. It's competing with SteamOS, which is preinstalled and optimal choice for the hardware Valve keeps releasing.

My take: I liked Bazzite when I installed it on a mini PC to use it as a gaming console. It's interesting to see the OGC trying to keep pace with the latest Linux kernel.

Diving in

The fineprint: Read the official release notes for more technical details.

Get it now: You can choose an image for your hardware by visiting the Bazzite website.

  • The Deck edition of Bazzite 44 isn't available quite yet. It's being slow-rolled for testing purposes.

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