Manjaro 20 Desktop

Since I am now living in the Age of Covid-19, I am finding more time on my hands to write my random thoughts.

We GNU+Linux users are no longer one percenters. According to recent statistics, GNU+Linux is around 2% on PCs.

I have been using Manjaro 20 KDE for past few days. The KDE version comes with Plasma 5.18. The new Breath2 themes include light and dark themes, skins, an animated splash-screen and more. It also includes KDE 20.04 Apps. In my opinion Manjaro stands out as one of the main Arch-based Linux distributions. Manjaro 20, brings many updates and various new features for a full-fledged GNU+Linux desktop experience. It offers Xfce, KDE and GNOME as core desktop options. The Xfce 4.14 desktop environment is lightweight, which makes it fast on low demand on low range systems. KDE Plasma 5.18.4.1, is a very modern looking and flexible desktop. It is flashy and quite resource heavy but not a problem for most modern PCs. The GNOME 3.36.1 is not a traditional desktop, so users can focus on their tasks more easily. Regardless of which desktop style you select, the welcome screen (Manjaro Hello) introduces new users Manjaro to documentation, support tips, and links to the project site.

Manjaro 20.0 "Lysia" is based on Arch and uses the Linux Kernel 5.6 which brings better hardware support for thunderbolt, Nvidia, and USB4 devices. The Manjaro 20.0 package manager received some new features like support for Snap and Flatpak by default. Manjaro users can now install snaps or flatpaks using Pamac in the user interface and in Terminal. It would be unfair, however, to dismiss  Manjaro as a Arch clone. True both Arch Linux and Manjaro are rolling distributions, which means that updates are released on a regular basis.Therefore you do not have to worry about an annual system re-installation.

• Manjaro will never be quite as bleeding-edge as Arch. Manjaro software is subject to further checks by developers and testers for potential stability issues before being released to the stable repositories for public use.
• Manjaro updates and automates many of the things that Arch expects you to do yourself. Manjaro updates only stable stuff. 
• Manjaro includes a welcome window called Manjaro Hello, which offers new users help to familiarize them with Manjaro. Manjaro Hello installs applications with one-click download and automatic installation.
• There is a Settings Manager which allows you to select from a number of available kernels, and install third party drivers for your hardware.
• Manjaro comes preinstalled with Steam, so there’s no need to go to a website and download it manually.