I finally got fed up with my Macbook Pro as a Linux laptop. It was a 2012 model, no longer supported by Apple. But the quirky implementation of Nvidia discrete graphics on the Macbook wasn’t the best for reliable Linux operation. Mind you, Nvidia is always a bit of a challenge, but Apple being Apple certainly does not help in that regard.
Anyway, I am currently sporting a Lenovo T460 from 2016. Still not really a new laptop, but fast enough for Linux and most things I do with it. It has a i5 6300U from the Skylake family of processors, 8GB memory (for now, supports up to 32GB) and a 1TB SSD. For graphics it used the Intel 520
For the OS, I am now running Nobara Linux 37. This is a Fedora derivative with tweaks for performance and gaming. While I am not a gamer, the improvements do help making it a snappy experience. Contrary to my desktop computer, I am now using the KDE version.
Getting used to KDE after having used Gnome for a long time can cause some frustrations. Not because what you want isn’t possible (typically quite the opposite) but because you cannot find it or know where to look. Where Gnome is has more of a ‘our way or the highway’ mentality and is more concerned with their vision than how the users are perceiving or using it, KDE is all about customization and providing the user with the ultimate choice. If you can dream it, KDE can probably be configured to do it. And that can be a bit overwhelming. It has so many options, sometimes you just have no idea where to look to achieve something.
So far, I am very happy. Both with the laptop, as well as Nobara Linux and KDE. I may have to switch my desktop to the same configuration soon… Now that I am getting the hang of KDE again, I remember why it was my default and go to desktop environment in the past, and the quirks and annoyances from Gnome seem to be more and more stuff I don’t really want to deal with no more. You shouldn’t have to hack together your environment around the limitations imposed by its maintainers. It’s Linux, not Windows or MacOS…