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ZDNET's key takeaways

• The latest release from Bazzite delivers for gamers.
• You won't find a better out-of-the-box gaming experience on Linux.
• The only caveat is that games requiring anti-cheat still do not work.

It's a rare occasion that I say, "Whoa!" when logging into a Linux distribution for the first time, but that's exactly what I did upon installing the latest stable version of Bazzite. As soon as I logged in, I knew that this version of the OS was an important step for the world of Linux gaming. 

I realized immediately that the developers of Bazzite were doing everything they could to make gaming on Linux simple, and it's nearly impossible to deny that they've succeeded.

Before I get deeper into this, I should mention that even the newest release of Bazzite does not solve the anti-cheating issue that prevents some games from playing on the Linux/Steam combo. Currently, indie and single-player games work flawlessly on Steam. The problem arises with multiplayer games.

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Here's the gist: Game cheats rely on kernel-level access (as they do on Windows). Unfortunately, Linux does not have an official implementation for this, so some players exploit the user-mode environment to make it easier for cheat developers to bypass detection methods used by anti-cheat software.

Because of cheaters, a lot of game developers opt to either not offer their games on Steam or not allow them to run on Linux machines. Currently, there is no fix for this.

That being said, single-player and indie games work just fine, and the latest version of Bazzite shines in this area.

And it all starts during installation.

Say what?

The Bazzite installation

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've installed Linux. By 10 a.m. today, I'd installed three different distributions. Suffice it to say, I not only know my way around Linux installations, but I also know how they look and function.

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But during the installation of Bazzite, something surprised me. Right in the middle of the process, a pop-up appeared with a QR code that led to a website with instructions for completing the enrollment of the hardware key for Secure Boot.

I've never seen that before on a Linux installation. 

You'll get instructions on how to do this during installation or after installation.

Interesting.

While this doesn't address the anti-cheat issue, enabling Secure Boot ensures the system prevents unauthorized software from running during the boot process.

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Once the installation is complete, reboot and log in. After the login process completes, you'll notice that Steam automatically begins to download the necessary components to run, so you no longer have to do that manually.

Soon after your first login, the Steam client opens to reveal the login prompt (and QR code for use with the Steam Mobile app).

Without you doing a single thing, your OS is ready to play games on Steam.

You also get Lutris and Proton Plus to round out the offering.

Post install

Another fancy little option is called the Bazzite Portal. This is a supped up Welcome App that gives you access to setting up Bazzite, customizations and tweaks, easy installation of media apps, installation of various development tools, and system management.

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In the Setting Up Bazzite section, you can do things like enable a Deky plugin for lossless scaling compatibility, install and configure emulators, add a self-hosted game stream host for Moonlight, and more.

In other words, Bazzite is taking Linux gaming seriously.

I would go so far as to say that the Bazzite Portal is the most complete and helpful Welcome App in the Linux world.

Is Bazzite for more than just gaming?

Of course! This is Linux, after all. You could use Bazzite for productivity, entertainment, online shopping, work, or whatever you need.

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One thing to keep in mind is that, because Bazzite is immutable, the apps you'll install (from Bazaar) are all Flatpaks. Don't worry, because there are tons of software titles to install, and it's all done via GUI. You can install LibreOffice, WPS Office, OnlyOffice Desktop Editors, Obsidian, Joplin, various AI tools, and much more.

With Flatpak apps, you won't miss a thing.

How does it perform?

Given that this is a Linux distribution designed for gaming, it should come as no surprise that Bazzite performs exceptionally well.

To test this, I installed Alpaca (a chat client with local AI models). This was done from within the Bazaar GUI, so it was a total point-and-click affair.

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Once Alpaca was up and running, I ran my first query: What is Linux? It was no surprise that the response wasn't immediate, as I'd only given the Bazzite virtual machine a minimum of memory. Had this been installed on an actual machine, I'm confident the AI would be exponentially faster.

As far as everyday performance, you'll get zero complaints from me.

Who is the latest Bazzite for?

Truth be told, this latest release of Bazzite is for people who want to dive into their Steam games upon first logging in, without having to walk through the sometimes lengthy, cumbersome setups.

Bazzite is as close to plug-and-play gaming as you'll find on a traditional Linux desktop, and that's a very good thing.