A lot has happened in Linux gaming in recent years. With the Steam Deck, Valve has essentially created a new category of its own – one that no one knew was missing. And in the wake of this success, more and more projects are emerging that build on this foundation and take the concept further.
One of these is Bazzite, a Linux distribution based on Fedora Silverblue, but much more focused on the needs of gamers – bringing its own look and feel, as well as a customized Linux kernel.
The goal of this review is ambitious: to replace Windows 11 in gaming.
But the big question is: Is it really possible?
Let’s be clear: it’s not for absolute beginners! Bazzite aims to simplify many things, but anyone who’s never dealt with Linux before should plan on some training.
Bazzite 42 was tested in October 2025 on a MinisForum G7 Pt with an AMD 7945HX and Radeon 7600M. A 32-inch 4K Samsung monitor, mouse, keyboard, and a USB-connected DAC speaker were connected to the monitor.
Installation
The challenge was clear: replace Windows 11 without completely deleting it.
Since the mini PC fortunately has two SSD slots, this was solved quite elegantly:
One 2 TB SSD for game data, a second for the operating system.
The effort, however, was not insignificant. First, vast amounts of data had to be moved – copying Steam libraries, shrinking the Windows partition, and then cloning it to another SSD. In the end, the Windows system fit on a 500 GB SSD, freeing up the previous main SSD: 1 TB of space for Bazzite.
The actual installation went surprisingly smoothly. The installer seems familiar – anyone who has installed Fedora or Silverblue before will quickly find their way around.
Bazzite uses a customized version of the Fedora installer, which isn’t entirely self-explanatory yet, but is clearly structured. In the upcoming version, the new Fedora installer is intended to simplify the whole process even further.
Nevertheless, some Linux experience helps.
You shouldn’t attempt this without a basic understanding of partitions or boot options. But if you know what you’re doing, you can have the system up and running in just a few minutes. After the first boot, you land directly on a fresh desktop – only then did I reinstall the second SSD to transfer data and games. Or so I thought.
All in all, an installation that goes much faster than you’d think – as long as you’re prepared. Absolutely doable for the typical gamer with a bit of technical understanding.
Start
Right after the first boot, I was honestly surprised by how much Bazzite comes with out of the box.
This isn’t pure GNOME, but a finely tuned version with useful extensions that directly compensate for many of GNOME’s typical weaknesses.
You notice this from the very first mouse movement: If you move the pointer down, the dash with your favorite apps opens – without having to go through the top left corner, as GNOME normally requires. A small change, but one that immediately feels right. Honestly, you wonder why GNOME hasn’t solved this problem long ago – it seems more natural, more direct, simply more logical.
The Bazzite logo is emblazoned in the top left, and it’s more than just decorative: It houses a number of useful tools – such as the system monitor, the update tool, and a few practical shortcuts. This gives you quick access to the most important functions without having to click through menus. And a little branding probably doesn’t hurt either.
Overall, the desktop looks tidy, modern, and unfussy.
A particularly nice feature: Bazzite activates several useful extensions by default, including a tiling extension that allows windows to be conveniently and precisely arranged on the screen – half, quarter, or in freely defined layouts. Ideal for large displays, like my 32-inch 4K monitor.
The overall focus – typically GNOME – is once again strongly on the content itself. Anything distracting is discreetly hidden. The Dash disappears when not needed and can be quickly displayed again with a mouse movement.
There is a small drawback, however, especially at high resolutions:
On the 4K monitor, constantly swiping down to open the Dock causes all open windows to be shown and displayed. While this looks nice, it’s a bit tiring in the long run – especially if you have many windows open and access the Dock frequently. It’s easy to lose focus because the entire window landscape is in motion. Since Bazzite is for gaming, running a full-screen game is usually tolerable.
Nevertheless, the overall impression is very positive.
Bazzite doesn’t feel like a DIY project, but rather a well-thought-out, modern desktop system designed for performance and everyday usability — just with a clear focus on gaming.
Design
Visually, Bazzite stays very close to GNOME — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, you can tell that the developers had a good eye for where they could make minor adjustments to freshen up the experience. It’s not a completely unique style, not an overly cluttered theme—more of a subtle “GNOME, but prettier.”
What’s particularly positive is that Bazzite comes pre-loaded with a few extensions that modernize the overall appearance. Most notably, “Blur my Shell,” which replaces the usual gray areas with a pleasant blur effect. This immediately creates a more premium look, a bit closer to macOS, without being kitschy. “Just Perfection” also provides minor fine-tuning of the interface’s behavior and appearance — for example, with animations, the visibility of UI elements, or transitions.
The overall appearance thus appears well-thought-out and uncluttered, without betraying the GNOME philosophy. This isn’t an attempt to reinvent the wheel, but simply to make the existing system a bit more aesthetically pleasing. Icons, colors, and fonts also fit well together and create a harmonious overall picture.
You can tell that emphasis was placed on a modern, yet understated appearance – nothing that immediately screams “gaming!”, but rather: “This can also be productive.” For gamers who value design, this is a pleasant surprise, as many gaming distributions otherwise have a rather functional visual appearance.
Apps
Bazzite comes with an interesting mix of pre-installed applications. You immediately notice that the focus is clearly on games and multimedia, but the system isn’t intended to be limited to pure gamers.
The usual GNOME classics like Files, Software, Settings, Terminal, and so on are included out of the box – but they’re supplemented by tools that gamers really need. Steam is, of course, fully integrated (and always starts in the background without asking), as are Lutris and Protontricks, which allow you to launch non-Steam games or older titles. This is a clear advantage over a fresh Fedora or Ubuntu installation, where you would have to install all of these things.
Beyond that, I’ve also tweaked the standard apps: Instead of the rather outdated GNOME versions for PDFs or music, I installed the more modern (also from GNOME) alternatives. Flatpak support is also included, which makes installing additional apps via Flathub a breeze. Bazzar, as a software center, is surprisingly fast and does its job very well – GNOME could learn a thing or two from that, since you’re constantly staring at the loading screen. Respect!
What’s also exciting is that many game-specific packages are already preconfigured so that they “just work.” No endless reinstalling of Wine, no driver hell and constant updates, no messing around with libraries. It’s clear here: The system is designed for gaming, but also suitable for everyday use.
Of course, you might wish that a few small tools like OBS Studio or HandBrake were preinstalled — but that’s nitpicking at a high level. The foundation is solid, and anyone who’s ever tried to put everything together on a standard distribution knows how much time you save.
Work
In daily use, there’s basically little to complain about.
The system runs quickly, responds quickly, and feels stable overall. Nevertheless, I encountered a few non-negotiable issues right from the start – most notably the issue of standby.
As soon as the computer went into sleep mode, it woke up immediately. Every time. After some research – with the help of ChatGPT – I was at least able to narrow down the problem: The culprit was the Samsung 4K monitor, which was connected via USB-C and also powered the mouse and keyboard.
The solution was typical Linux: creating a small script to ignore the device in question during standby. Since then, the PC has actually been sleeping well – although it can no longer be woken up using the keyboard. While not ideal, it’s an acceptable compromise. At the same time, it clearly illustrates why Linux still presents stumbling blocks for some setups. Even if it’s not necessarily its own fault.
Things got even more annoying when the USB DAC speakers – also connected via the monitor – suddenly stopped working.
After a brief troubleshooting, it turned out that the monitor’s integrated USB hub was acting up. The cause, however, was unexpectedly simple: the cable.
I had used a cheap white USB cable from IKEA because it matched the look of the setup – but apparently at the expense of signal quality. With a higher-quality cable (unfortunately gray, again IKEA), the problem was immediately resolved. So yes: sometimes Linux stability depends on a 3-euro coin.
Aside from such quirks, Bazzite runs surprisingly smoothly in everyday life.
Updates can be quickly performed via the Bazzite logo in the top left and then “System Update.” This is a simple terminal app (or script), but also updates Flatpak and even firmware. If you do this every few weeks, you’ll always be in the clear.
A backup system with Déjà Dup was quickly set up – including encryption on an external hard drive. This provides good protection in an emergency, even with rolling releases like Bazzite.
Small details have a positive impact on daily work:
The extension that allows you to open the Dock with a downward mouse movement makes GNOME significantly faster and more intuitive. The system icons in the top right – for background programs, for example – are still useful and provide a better overview.
The integrated tiling system is flexibly configurable and allows for a customized window layout. I usually use a classic 50/50 split, but if you prefer more order on your screen, you can really get creative with this. Very wide monitors, in particular, are much more usable – Hyprland smiles here.
There are, of course, a few minor weaknesses: screenshots don’t work with the dedicated key on my Logitech keyboard – a detail that’s a given in Windows, but would need some adjustment here.
Apart from that, Bazzite is easy to use in everyday use, clear, and fully featured. Everything you need is already pre-installed or can be quickly upgraded via the integrated Bazzar store.
Of course, minor issues still crop up here and there – but that’s almost to be expected with a young, dynamic distribution, and similar or identical to its bigger brothers and sisters due to the same foundation.
Multimedia
As expected, everything works well and as usual with multimedia – music, images, and videos. When it comes to pure consumption, there are no surprises: play, watch, listen, done. Even the typical candidates like Gapless (local data) and Shortwave (online radio) were quickly installed and run without any problems.
The default music player, however, is more of a video player, which seems a bit odd if you just want to listen to a single file. I didn’t want to solve this problem with VLC this time – it just feels too outdated. Instead, I installed the new GNOME audio player, and it does its job perfectly: simple, uncluttered, and modern. It’s quick to set it as the default, and the setup is perfect.
For video playback, there’s also Clapper, which presents itself as a more modern, slightly more comprehensive version of the GNOME video player. The interface and controls are pleasantly minimalist, rewinds and controls respond quickly, and it even handles 4K material without a problem. This allows you to simply enjoy films and clips without having to tinker with the settings.
The real highlight, however, came unexpectedly: DaVinci Resolve.
For the first time ever, I managed to install this program on Linux – without any complicated workarounds. Not because Blackmagic suddenly offered a Flatpak (that would be too easy), but because in Bazzite, you simply place the ZIP file in the download folder and enter:
ujust install-resolve
in the Terminal. And – sure enough – it starts. It even loads my projects.
Of course, there’s a catch: H.264 isn’t supported, so basically any video you have. I usually use HandBrake to convert videos, but here you need a format that Resolve actually understands. With a little creativity, this can be solved – I converted my files to ProRes with ffmpeg (also Terminal…). Depending on the settings, this requires more storage space or slightly lower quality, but it works.
And yes: My project loaded and ran smoothly. Not entirely without effort, but absolutely doable. A nice change—and in some ways, a small triumph. If a company like Blackmagic doesn’t want to deliver Flatpaks, it’s at least nice to see that the community and distributions like Bazzite are finding ways to make it possible anyway.
Overall, multimedia runs on Bazzite the way you’d want it to: reliable, modern, and without the feeling of tinkering. Everything you need to enjoy music, videos, or radio is there or installed in seconds via the Bazzar store. And when DaVinci Resolve even starts, you can only be satisfied. And admittedly, that was really one of the obstacles to sticking with Windows. And what excuse do I have now?
Desktop
I generally get along well with GNOME – at least if I tweak a few things. But this time, things were a little different than on the small laptop:
On the large 32-inch 4K monitor, GNOME suddenly seemed cluttered. Too many animations, too long mouse paths, too much movement on the screen. In short: too much of everything.
So after a few days of experimenting, I decided to tame the system a bit. The solution was simple and effective: Dash to Panel.
This extension brings the bar down, combining app launchers, open windows, and the system tray into a clear, unified panel – very Windows-style (yes, I know…).
It might sound like a step backward, but in practice, it’s the opposite:
You don’t have to constantly wander your eyes all over the screen to reach the time, app icons, and windows. Everything is centralized, more ergonomic, and simply more comfortable for your head.
It may not be what GNOME purists want – but it just works.
Of course, this is also a matter of taste.
Some people love GNOME’s minimalist philosophy, others – like me – need a bit more structure. The beauty of Bazzite is that you can have both.
The extensions are available directly in the system, easy to activate, and immediately and noticeably change the user experience.
There is one small drawback: extensions often depend on individual developers. If they no longer have the desire or time to adapt updates, the worst case scenario is that you are left with a non-functional desktop.
That’s why I always view such adjustments with some reservation – they make the system better, but also a bit more dependent on volunteers.
Nevertheless: With Dash to Panel and a few fine-tuning options, Bazzite feels better in everyday use, even on a large monitor. Although I found myself missing the typical GNOME alignment at the top of the screen and switched it back. You can switch back and forth a bit.
You realize how flexible Linux can be – and how quickly you can completely change an interface without touching the system underneath.
Windows-Apps
Windows apps have traditionally been a tricky topic under Linux – and Bazzite is no exception. While at first glance it seems as if you can simply double-click an .exe file and get started, it’s not quite that simple.
If you try to launch a Windows program directly, Bazzite first asks if you want to assign it to a specific game. You quickly realize that the system is clearly designed for gaming – many of the predefined startup environments are optimized for well-known games. However, this doesn’t help much for classic Windows apps.
The solution here, as is often the case, is Bottles.
This app essentially works like a small Windows container – you create a so-called Bottle, select a suitable configuration (e.g., “Gaming” or “Application”), and then install or open your Windows programs into it. The whole thing is based on Wine, but with a much simpler interface and presets that save you a lot of fiddling around.
In my case, it was quick to set up: created a bottle, opened the .exe, and that’s it.
And lo and behold – it works. Not everything is perfect, but stable enough to run many typical Windows programs without any problems. Smaller tools or older software in particular often work surprisingly well – which is often enough for newcomers.
Of course, not every app will work.
More complex programs with extensive system requirements or proprietary interfaces (such as Adobe products or special anti-cheat mechanisms in games) remain a separate issue.
But that’s less due to Bazzite than to the fundamental limitations of Wine and the lack of Linux versions from the manufacturers.
Nevertheless, it’s impressive how far you can get these days without needing a full-fledged Windows system.
Just don’t have false expectations here: Bazzite doesn’t aim to be a “Windows replacement for office software,” but rather a gaming-centric Linux that also happens to be able to run many Windows programs. And that’s exactly what it does, amazingly reliably.
Games
If a system considers itself a gaming distribution, it’s clear that it has to deliver – and Bazzite does just that.
From the very first boot, you notice that everything is designed to get you started right away: Steam is preinstalled, Proton is enabled, and all the necessary gaming libraries are on board.
But of course, it wouldn’t be a Linux test without a few quirks at the beginning.
In my case, these were two things: NTFS and scaling.
I wanted to share my existing game data with Windows – so I simply mounted the Windows SSD with the Steam library under Linux. Sounds logical, right?
Unfortunately, not. The games simply wouldn’t start. Some opened briefly, some didn’t open at all, and others shut down without a comment. After a brief investigation, it became clear: NTFS as a shared game drive doesn’t work reliably.
The better solution is a separate partition in the Linux file system – a bit more effort and hundreds of gigabytes to copy, but no problems.
The second issue was scaling.
Since many things appear quite small on a 32-inch 4K monitor, I set the interface to 125% – which also looks good on the desktop.
However, Bazzite passes this setting directly to the games.
The result: titles started in a kind of “enlarged 4K resolution,” i.e., 125% of 4K. No joke. And of course, this couldn’t be corrected in the games themselves. Only disabling scaling solved the problem.
So, remember this: it’s better not to use scaling in games. At least not in GNOME.
Once these stumbling blocks were out of the way, the actual testing could begin.
I tried a whole range of games across the board – from older classics to newer titles. Without any special launch options, just “Install” and “Play.” And the results were consistently impressive.
RoboCop: Rogue City: Yes.
Timberborn: Yes.
CitiesSkylines 1: Yes.
CitiesSkylines 2: Yes, no problems on the second try. Except for the problems the game still has anyway…
Anno 1800: Yes, even with DirectX 12 and AMD Super Resolution.
Anno 1404 HE: Yes.
Jurassic World Evolution 2: Yes.
Manor Lords: Yes.
Pizza Connection 3: Yes.
Planet Zoo: Yes.
Counter Strike 2: Yes.
Instructions of Destruction: Yes.
FLATOUT: Ultimate Carnage: Yes.
Tropico 6: Yes.
Tiny Glade: Yes.
Battlefield 1: Revolution: No. Anticheat…
Evil Genius 2: Yes.
Rise of the Tomb Raider: Yes.
Overall, a surprisingly high hit rate.
Even graphics-intensive titles ran smoothly, and the system remained stable – no crashes, no unexplained freezes. Only with some games was it noticeable that Steam closed completely or minimized after quitting. A minor issue, but somewhat annoying in the long run.
The annoying issue of anticheat, of course, remains on Linux.
Many multiplayer titles with proprietary protection mechanisms continue to refuse to launch unless they are officially Proton-compatible. But the trend is clearly upward – more and more studios are enabling Linux support, and projects like ProtonDB document this well (protondb.com).
Another issue that proved to be more annoying was the synchronization of saved games. Some titles transfer cloud saves without any problems, while others act as if you’ve never saved anything.
This wasn’t a problem with RoboCop and Anno 1800, but Rise of the Tomb Raider simply refused to load the old saves – despite manually copying them from the Windows folder (tip: press Ctrl+H in GNOME Files to display hidden folders).
Why is this? Usually because the save locations or cloud systems vary slightly between Windows and Linux. Annoying, but unfortunately, reality.
Performance-wise, there’s little to complain about.
Proton and the Vulkan implementation do a great job; loading times are comparable to Windows, and in some cases, games even start faster.
Also nice: Steam starts by default upon login – perhaps annoying for some, but simply convenient for me.
In short: I’m impressed.
Almost everything I’ve tried works – and without any complicated adjustments, startup parameters, or tinkering.
Sure, anti-cheat remains an issue, and NTFS should be avoided, but these are known limitations, no surprises. At least now for me.
For my personal use, I can say:
Yes, Bazzite replaces Windows 11 for gaming – almost without reservation.
At least, as long as you don’t need very specific multiplayer games with restrictive anti-cheat systems.
If you just want to play, you get a system that “just works.”
Conclusio
So let’s get to the crucial question:
Can Bazzite replace Windows 11 for gaming?
For me personally: Yes. Absolutely.
I don’t play any titles that wouldn’t run on Linux at all – and everything I’ve tested works amazingly stable and performs well.
The days of having to struggle with terminal commands and endless forum posts are over. Bazzite shows that Linux is no longer just “capable of gaming,” but can actually be made for it.
With Steam, Proton, and (to my surprise) even DaVinci Resolve, I have everything I regularly use on board. The usual desktop candidates – Chrome, Thunderbird, LibreOffice – are included anyway, and with Flatpak or the integrated Bazzar Store, upgrading is no problem.
Of course, not everything runs perfectly:
A few minor issues like standby, USB issues, or screenshot buttons show that Linux still requires a certain tinkering mentality. But it’s not a frustrating tinkering exercise, but rather an “interesting” one – one where you learn something and feel like you really understand the system.
The system itself appears fast, stable, and technically up-to-date. The update mechanism runs reliably, even if the data volumes are larger than you might be used to. This results in a clearly reproducible result: a system that simply works. And if something doesn’t work after an update, you can roll back to the last state and the system will run as before. Good, right?
In the long run, it will be interesting to see how well Bazzite performs with major Fedora upgrades – especially when you use so many GNOME extensions.
But one thing is already clear: This is the right path.
They didn’t just take Fedora and add a few game packages, but created a well-thought-out system that takes gaming seriously, yet still remains a complete desktop. From the desktop to its own kernel!
And perhaps the best conclusion after a few weeks of use: Once you get used to the interface, you really ask yourself: “Why do we still need Windows?”
Anyone testing Bazzite should definitely use a separate SSD or partition – dual-booting is possible, but experimental.
Recommended extensions:
-Dash to Panel (classic panel at the bottom)
-Blur My Shell (transparent GNOME interface)
-Just Perfection (fine-tuning for UI details)
Links
Bazzite-Website: https://bazzite.gg
Official site with downloads, documentation, and community links.ProtonDB: https://www.protondb.com
Community database for Linux compatibility of games.