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Best Free City Building Games in 2024

By admin May 20, 2024

Best Free City Building Games in 2024, Do you want to play the best city building games for Windows PC? In this comprehensive article, you will learn 8 most popular city building games to play in 2024. Read on to the entire article for complete information.

In the course of playing one of the top city-building games, you will find yourself wasting many hours growing your city, perfecting your infrastructure, and concentrating on your trade. You may construct magnificent cities and give them your own personal touch. Whether you want to construct a modest mountain village, a future tech center, or an ancient empire, you will find what you are searching for in the list that is provided here. Although city-building games often have a high learning curve and a large amount of material, novice players may enjoy themselves by playing any of the games on our list from the beginning.

Top 8 Best Free City Building Games For PC in 2024

Currently, the following are the best city building games that are available for play on computers:

1. Cities: Skylines

For the complete and utter delight of any person’s inner-city planner, this immediate classic captured the essence of SimCity series and boosted it up to a higher level. Create the most popular seaside clubbing zone in the area by devoting a significant amount of time to refining your highway swaps or by using specialized zoning rules.

Players have godlike influence over every area of life, from budgets to bus timetables, so it is easy to spend hours geeking out in the weeds as your city expands. Players have the ability to regulate every aspect of existence. Cities: Skylines – An absolute need for everyone who is passionate about the genre. There are over ten expansion packs available for Skylines, ranging from Parklife to Mass Transit, allowing players to keep things exciting. Overall, it is one of the best city building games that you can play on your PC.

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2. Frostpunk

There is a possibility that this city building game is the ideal choice for you if you are someone who enjoys dark role-playing narratives. Frostpunk is a work of historical fiction that takes place in the late 1800s, after the cataclysmic explosions carried out by two stratovolcanoes, Mount Tambora and Krakatoa, had induced a global volcanic winter.

Constructing a camp for refugees and maintaining civilization is your task as the commander of an institution located in the coal-rich northern region of the country. The repercussions of imposing child labor and 24-hour work shifts while also keeping a restless populace at bay are something that you will have to think about in Frostpunk, in contrast to other top-rated city-building games that may have you focusing on things like commercial and residential taxation.

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3. Anno 1800

Create a time machine since this cool city building game is perfect for those who are interested in history as well as those who create cities. This seventh entry in the Anno series, titled Anno 1800, takes place during the time period known as the Industrial Revolution, which, for those of you who skipped history class, corresponds to the 19th century.

While you are concentrating on the strategy of your craftsmen and inhabitants, who are obsessed with production and consumption, you will need to manage the delicate supply-demand balance that exists between your Old World city and a parallel New World metropolis and manage it. You will be able to minimize the spread of industrialized industries in your city while enjoying the whimsical architecture of the period. However, the drawback of this great city building game is that the PC users are the only ones who can access it.

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4. Tropico 6

You will have another opportunity to manage, influence, and construct your very own banana republic this time around since El Presidente has returned to Tropico 6. The Tropico games are city builders, and if you haven’t played one before, you should know that they let you engage in all of the devious and corrupt activities that you are not meant to do when you are constructing a city. As the undisputed monarch of your island, it is your responsibility to deliver brilliant speeches in order to maintain the happiness of your people while simultaneously maximizing the value of the land and the resources available to you.

Tropico 6 is a game that is a lot of fun to play, not only because it is so insane, but also because it is a city builder that is very enjoyable. DLC, on the other hand, makes it even more enjoyable.

Playing Tropico 6 is such a delightful experience that it is difficult to overstate how much fun it is. Give Tropico 6 a try if you find that the icy industry of Anno 1800 and the dismal survival of Frostpunk are simply too much for you to handle. In short, it is one of the best games for city building available on this list.

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5. SimCity 4

The SimCity series has indeed been around for over twenty years, but no list of good city building games would be complete without including it, even if it were just in an honorary capacity. Despite being the finest game in the series, SimCity 4 was the pinnacle of the genre at the time it was released. It also served as a model for all subsequent games in the series.

This realistic builder, much like its spiritual sequel Cities: Skylines, has a strong emphasis on city planning and challenges players to strike a balance between the many requirements of a developing city and the resources that are available. On the other hand, this best city making game was exceptional for two distinct reasons: Players were able to import their very own Sims into their city, and it was the first game in the genre to allow for 3D rendering.

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6. RimWorld

The next best free city building game that you can play is RimWorld. This is basically a colony simulator; a place where almost anything may take place. You take the helm of a new colony that is being established on a rim world, which is a planet that is situated on the periphery of known space.

RimWorld is one of the greatest simulation games now available on the market, and it is also a game that creates gaming experiences that are both distinctive and unforgettable.

Every single one of your colonists comes with a set of characteristics that are rolled at random and determine how they behave. You can have a genius who is fast to learn but is susceptible to having a mental breakdown, or you might have someone with bloodlust who gets a mood boost from murdering strangers and manufacturing garments out of their flesh. That’s right. All of the characteristics are tongue-in-cheek, regardless of how serious they may get (for instance, nudists receive a mood boost regardless of whether or not they are nude).

The mix of characteristics that are present throughout your colony provides you with an experience that is completely one of a kind each time you open up the game. The character attributes of your colonists will determine how they interact with one another, and this interaction will constitute a significant portion of the foundation for the gameplay. In addition to that, an artificial intelligence (AI) narrator will guide you through your adventure, supplying you with random occurrences depending on the level of difficulty you choose and the settings you choose for the game.

RimWorld is a story generator. It’s designed to co-author tragic, twisted, and triumphant stories about imprisoned pirates, desperate colonists, starvation and survival. It works by controlling the “random” events that the world throws at you. Every thunderstorm, pirate raid, and traveling salesman is a card dealt into your story by the AI Storyteller. There are several storytellers to choose from. Randy Random does crazy stuff, Cassandra Classic goes for rising tension, and Phoebe Chillax likes to relax.

Your colonists are not professional settlers – they’re crash-landed survivors from a passenger liner destroyed in orbit. You can end up with a nobleman, an accountant, and a housewife. You’ll acquire more colonists by capturing them in combat and turning them to your side, buying them from slave traders, or taking in refugees. So your colony will always be a motley crew.

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7. Banished

If you are searching for a straightforward city survival game, Banished is the game for you. It does not include a lot of the backstory, bells, or whistles that you will find in more elaborate games. This great city building game considers its residents less as denizens and more as a means to a goal despite the fact that it is an exercise in working (and presumably succeeding) inside the architecture of a planned economy.

In your role as the leader of a community of exiled people, it is your responsibility to delegate responsibilities to the inhabitants, such as fishing and construction, while maintaining a balance between the expansion of the town and the distribution of its resources. It is possible for populations to increase due to births and arrivals, but it is also possible for populations to decrease due to the aging of the population, which is a great variation of the standard paradigm. In sum, it is one of the best city building games in 2024 that you can consider.

In this city-building strategy game, you control a group of exiled travelers who decide to restart their lives in a new land. They have only the clothes on their backs and a cart filled with supplies from their homeland.

The townspeople of Banished are your primary resource. They are born, grow older, work, have children of their own, and eventually die. Keeping them healthy, happy, and well-fed are essential to making your town grow. Building new homes is not enough—there must be enough people to move in and have families of their own.

Banished has no skill trees. Any structure can be built at any time, provided that your people have collected the resources to do so. There is no money. Instead, your hard-earned resources can be bartered away with the arrival of trade vessels. These merchants are the key to adding livestock and annual crops to the townspeople’s diet; however, their lengthy trade route comes with the risk of bringing illnesses from abroad.

There are twenty different occupations that the people in the city can perform from farming, hunting, and blacksmithing, to mining, teaching, and healing. No single strategy will succeed for every town. Some resources may be more scarce from one map to the next. The player can choose to replant forests, mine for iron, and quarry for rock, but all these choices require setting aside space into which you cannot expand.

The success or failure of a town depends on the appropriate management of risks and resources.

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8. Aven Colony

The next name on this list of the best free city-building games in 2024 is Aven Colony. This is a game that allows you to set up your very own city right from scratch. The game offers a variety of gameplay options for your ease. From terrestrial to extraterrestrial objects, buildings, vehicles, and more, you will find that this game is quite different than the ones offered before.

Build a new home for humanity with Aven Colony.

Discover Aven Prime – an alien planet of deserts, tundras, and jungles light years from earth. Aven Colony puts you in charge of humanity’s first extrasolar settlement, where you build and expand your small colonies into massive, sprawling cities while dealing with the challenges faced when settling on a new world.

Build your colony’s infrastructure, look after the well-being of your citizens, manage your resources, and guide your colony to prosperity against the backdrop of the harsh and often dangerous realities of the exotic world of Aven Prime.

KEY FEATURES:

COLONIZE AN ALIEN WORLD: Build a new home for humanity on a world with a low-oxygen atmosphere, extreme electrical storms, shard storms, dust devils, deadly toxic gas eruptions from geothermal vents, and days so long they have their own seasons. Explore a variety of biomes, from the lush wetlands environment to the much less habitable desert and arctic.

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Top Rated City Building Games in 2024: Closing Words

So, these were the 7 best city building games in 2024 that you can play on your Windows PC. Hopefully, our detailed list helps you make a better choice. If you have any questions or better recommendations, please feel free to drop us a line in the comments section below.

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Best Seller

Best gaming TVs of 2024

By admin March 20, 2024

Best gaming TVs of 2024 for Xbox Series X, PS5, and more Playing video games is one of the world’s greatest forms of entertainment. They’re visually and narratively immersive, full of action, and not to mention just an excellent way to blow off steam. But no PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or gaming PC is complete without a top-notch TV to take gameplay to the next level. But let’s be clear: Not just any TV is going to deliver the type of gaming experience you deserve.

You’ll want to make sure your TV is optimized for online and offline gaming. Ultra HD resolution and a 120Hz native refresh rate are good specs to start, but you’ll also want to look for TVs with gameplay optimizations, such as HDR, Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support.

We know how tricky shopping for a new TV can be, so we’ve put together this roundup of the best gaming TVs for 2024 to guide you on your quest for gold.

TCL Q6 Series QLED

Best budget gaming TV

The TCL Q6 Series is the bottom rung on TCL’s flagship ladder (with the Q7 and QM8 representing the higher rungs). In terms of HDMI inputs, you’ll be working with three 2.0 ports. All three of these inputs also support VRR, but the real win with the Q6 is the set’s incredibly low input lag. This is particularly relevant for competitive gamers who can’t miss a beat during an online match.

The Q6 Series also does a great job at handling both HDR and SDR performance. The former delivers gameplay imagery that is nice and vibrant, while the latter amps up the peak brightness even more. If you’re going to be doing a majority of your gaming in a well-lit room, it’s important that your TV can get bright enough to beat the sunlight and whatever ambient fixtures are contributing luminance. Fortunately, the Q6 also happens to have good reflection handling, so even if the screen is a little on the dark side, you shouldn’t see much in the way of glare.

One thing that’s missing on the Q6 Series though is local dimming, and the set’s native refresh rate is only 60Hz. While TCL attempts to counter this with the Game Accelerator 120 (picture processing that makes 60Hz look more like 120Hz), the TV’s overall response time still takes a hit because of this.

But if you’re looking to save a few bucks on your TV purchase, and want a gaming set that satisfies several must-haves for offline and online gameplay, the TCL Q6 Series should definitely be a consideration.

Best gaming TVs of 2024

Also Read : Best color laser printers for 2024

Hisense U6K Mini-LED

Another great budget gaming TV

The Hisense U6K may not be as colorful or bright as the brand’s higher-priced U7K and flagship U8K models, but when it comes to cost-friendly TVs that can deliver a great gaming experience, the Hisense U6K checks all the boxes. But what are the best gaming features of this TV, you may be asking?

The biggest wins (at least in our book) are the U6K’s fantastic contrast, VRR support, and solid response time. When Game Mode is enabled, the preset prioritizes motion above all else, delivering a very smooth-looking picture and low input lag. And because the U6K is also good at dealing with bright rooms, you won’t have to worry about reflection handling during the sunnier parts of the day.

Unfortunately, when you’re using Game Mode, you can’t have VRR and local dimming running at the same time. This means you’ll have to make a choice between near-instantaneous motion performance or brightness and contrast accuracy. And considering the TV only supports HDMI 2.0, and has some trouble with response time during darker gameplay scenes, this could be a tough call to make.

None of the above is enough to disqualify the Hisense U6K though. Available in 55-, 65-, and 75-inch sizes, and with prices starting around $400, this Hisense QLED still punches well above its weight class.

Sony XR X93L Mini-LED

Best midrange gaming TV

We’re suckers for a solid mini-LED TV, so when we were putting this list together, one of the first entries we knew we’d include was the Sony XR X93L. Sold in 65-, 75-, and 85-inch sizes, one of the chief benefits of mini-LED lighting is that these types of TVs typically have more local dimming zones. And because these screens can get exceptionally bright, you want the kind of lightning-fast dimming that can keep up with big blasts of light.

Luckily, the X93L is a decorated champ when it comes to mini-LED lighting and local dimming, which also makes it an awesome TV for gaming. Now you’ll definitely be able to hook up your Xbox Series X/S or Nintendo Switch to the X93L, and both the picture quality and motion clarity should be extremely good. But because this is a Sony TV, the Sony-produced Playstation 5 receives some extra gaming perks you won’t get on other consoles.

One of these features is called Auto HDR Tone Mapping, which optimizes the PS5’s HDR capabilities when you’re first setting it up with the X93L. Then there’s Auto Genre Picture Mode, which automatically changes the picture preset to Game Mode when you’re playing video games, and switches back to the Standard setting when you power the console down.

The Sony XR X93L is also equipped with HDMI 2.1 ports, supports VRR, and has extremely low input lag and response time during gameplay.

LG C3 OLED

Another excellent midrange gaming TV

When it comes to OLED TVs, LG has made quite the name for itself over the last several years. This is to the point where companies like Samsung are buying its OLED TV screens directly from LG Display. If we made our own OLEDs, we’d probably do the same.

As far as gaming goes, we’re more than glad to call the LG C3 one of our go-to models in the upper midrange category. For a couple of years now, LG has been developing and implementing brighter OLED screens (called Evo panels) on many of its higher-end models, along with a feature called Brightness Booster that adds extra peak and color brightness all around. When you combine this enhanced illumination with the already-astonishing color gamut and inky blacks of an LG OLED, you’re left with a stunning picture that is perfect for console and PC gaming.

With HDMI 2.1 support across all four of the C3’s inputs, we expect big things when it comes to lag, response time, and overall motion handling. Thankfully, LG more than delivers on all these fronts, and the addition of an automated Game Mode optimizes the colors and contrast for whatever you’re playing even further.

Admittedly, your overall HDR brightness takes a bit of a hit when Game Mode is engaged. But the C3 is also no straggler when it comes to reflection handling, so even if you’re dealing with some extra sunlight, the rays shouldn’t affect your gameplay experience too drastically.

Samsung S95C OLED

Best premium-level gaming TV

Welcome to the world of flagship gaming TVs, where the prices may be high, but the picture and performance is literally impossible to beat. We have two contenders in this final category, and the first on our list is a premium powerhouse known as the Samsung S95C OLED.

Have you ever heard of QD-OLED TVs? This is a relatively new display tech that you can find from brands like Samsung and Sony, although both companies seem to be doing away with the “QD” portion of the moniker these days. Regardless, the acronym stands for “Quantum Dot-Organic Light Emitting Diode.”

The Samsung S95C just so happens to be a QD-OLED, and is equipped with not only a full layer of quantum dots for enhanced brightness and colors, but also uses an OLED panel with millions of self-emissive pixels that can be toggled on or off in an instant. That’s on top of Samsung’s Neural Quantum Processor 4K that automatically upscales and calibrates picture quality on a frame-by-frame basis. But what about pure gaming tech, you may be asking?

Well friends, each of the S95C’s four HDMI inputs are 2.1 certified, meaning you’ll be able to enjoy Playstation, Xbox, and PC gaming in full 4K HDR at up to 120Hz, and up to 144Hz for compatible PCs. And thanks to ultra-low input lag and response time, the S95C delivers blistering-fast motion without devolving into blurry images. And while we wish the TV supported Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HDR10+ gameplay looks terrific.

Sony XR A95L QD-OLED

Another great premium-level gaming TV

Our other top pick for gaming TVs in 2023 has to go to the godlike Sony XR A95L. Available in 55, 65, and 77-inch sizes, this is another QD-OLED set that employs quantum dots and self-emissive pixels, with a healthy dash of Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR thrown in for some of the best picture processing and upscaling in town.

As you can guess from our writeup on the Samsung S95C, the QD-OLED results are simply amazing. We’re talking incredible peak brightness levels, rich colors, unbelievable contrast, and lightning-fast motion handling for the A95L. But beyond the flagship features that we most certainly expect from a TV that starts pricing at $2,800, what impeccable gaming tech can we anticipate from this bad boy?

Well for starters, like the midrange Sony XR X93L, the A95L model is optimized for Playstation 5 gameplay. Two of the TV’s four HDMI inputs are 2.1 certified, with support for 4K at up to 120Hz. To further buttress the motion handling, the A95L also includes support for VRR and ALLM, ensuring you’ll experience as little lag as possible when playing online or offline.

But perhaps our favorite A95L gaming feature is the set’s Auto HDR Tone Mapping. This is a feature you’ll enable during the initial setup of your PS5 with the A95L. Once activated, all of your gameplay visuals will receive full HDR treatment (as long as the actual game is available in HDR), giving you the best brightness, colors, and contrast, regardless of the genre.

The Sony XR A95L also supports Multi-View, which lets you game on one part of the TV screen, while the second half of the screen can be used to stream a movie or show from apps like YouTube, Netflix, and Prime Video. And like many of the models in this roundup, the A95L comes with a gaming dashboard that lets you adjust things like motion clarity and picture presets without having to go into the TV’s main settings menu.

Frequently Asked Questions

How we choose the best gaming TVs

Before we sign off, we thought we’d go over how we’ve come up with these entries, and what’s important to us when selecting a gaming TV.

The first thing we look for is low input lag. Because if there’s too much delay between the action of your thumbs and the action on screen, well, that’s just a frustration nobody needs. Plus, it can be a huge disadvantage in competitive gameplay, where a few milliseconds literally can be the difference between a win or a loss.

Next, we look for solid picture quality in the TV’s “game mode” preset, which is what you’ll want to use for the lowest input lag. The picture quality doesn’t have to be videophile-grade awesome, but it can’t be trash, either. Today’s game graphics are gorgeous, and you deserve all that gorgeousness, so we seek to find the best balance between low input lag and awesome picture.

Then we need to see great motion resolution. We don’t have to have 120Hz native panels for good motion resolution. A 60Hz TV can look good, but, not all of them do, so we want to make sure we see as little blurring and stutter as possible for the best clarity during fast-moving gameplay.

But since we mentioned 120Hz, that definitely is nice to have, along with some other advanced gaming features like variable refresh rate (VRR), auto-game mode, Dolby Vision gaming, and maybe even up to a 144Hz refresh rate in some cases. We also want to make sure that these TVs do a nice job at displaying both HDR and SDR gaming content.

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Artificial Intelligence

The best AI image generators of 2024

By admin March 18, 2024

The best AI image generators of 2024, The best AI image generators to try right now AI image generators use text prompts to produce images within seconds. I tested the best AI image generators and found that DALL-E isn’t your only option.If you’ve ever searched Google high and low to find an image you needed to no avail, AI may be able to help.

With AI image generators, you can type in a prompt as detailed or vague as you’d like to fit an array of purposes and have the image you were thinking of pop up on your screen instantly. These tools can help with branding, social media content creation, vision boards, invitations, flyers, greeting cards, and more.

Even if you have no professional use for AI at the moment, don’t worry — the process is so fun that anyone can (and should) try it out.

OpenAI’s DALL-E 2 made a huge splash because of its advanced capabilities and because it was the first mainstream AI image generator. However, since its initial launch, there have been many developments in the space. Plenty of companies have released their own models that rival DALL-E 2, and OpenAI even released a more advanced model, DALL-E 3.

To help you figure out which models are the best for different tasks, I put the generators to the test by putting a version of the same prompt — “Two yorkies sitting on a beach that is covered in snow” — into each image generator. I included screenshots for your viewing pleasure and for you to make your own inferences.

While I found the best overall AI image generator to be the Image Creator from Microsoft Designer, due to its free-of-charge, high-quality results, other AI image generators perform better for specific needs. For the full round-up of the best AI image generators, keep reading below.

The best AI image generators of 2024

Image Creator from Microsoft Designer (formerly Bing Image Creator)

Best AI image generator overall

Image Creator from Microsoft Designer features: Powered by: DALL-E 3 | Access via: Copilot, browser, mobile | Output: 4 images per prompt | Price: Free

Image Creator from Microsoft Designer is powered by DALL-E 3, OpenAI’s most advanced image-generating model. As a result, it produces higher quality results than the free version of DALL-E while also remaining free to use. All you need to do to access the image generator is visit the Image Creator website and sign in with a Microsoft account.

The biggest perk about this AI generator is that you can also access it in the same place where you can access Microsoft’s AI chatbot, Copilot (formerly Bing Chat).

In addition to visiting Image Creator on its standalone site, you can ask it to generate images for you in Copilot. To get your image, all you have to do is conversationally ask Copilot to draw you any image you’d like.

This feature is so convenient because you can get all of your image-generating and AI chatting needs met in the same place. This facilitates tasks that could benefit from both image and text generation, such as party planning since you can ask the chatbot to generate themes for your party and then ask it to create images that follow the theme.

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DALL-E 2 by OpenAI

Best AI image generator if you want to experience the original

DALL-E 2 features: Powered by: DALL-E 2 by OpenAI | Access via: OpenAI website | Output: 4 images per credit | Price: Free if you registered before Apr. 6, $15 minimum if you register after | Credits: Free credit allowance replenishes every month for pre-April 6 users

OpenAI, the AI research company behind ChatGPT, launched DALL-E 2 November 2022, and it quickly became the most popular AI image generator on the market. Although it has been lapped by Image Creator by Designer, it is still a very capable image generator and the blueprint for all the models that followed.

The site is very intuitive and can produce results in seconds. All you have to do is type in whatever prompt you’d like, specifying as much detail as necessary to bring your vision to life, and then DALL-E 2 will generate four images from your prompt.

The credits situation can be a bit tricky because users who registered before April 6, 2023, get to keep the original terms, which included 15 free credits that replenish at the end of every month. Any new users have to buy a minimum of 115 credits for $15, which is a big con of using this AI image generator instead of Image Creator from Designer.

Since there are other free alternatives on the list that work just as well, I would encourage users to only pay for DALLE-2 if they really want to experience the original.

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ImageFX by Google

The best AI image generator for beginners

ImageFX from Google: Powered by: Imagen 2 | Access via: website | Output: four images | Price: free

Google’s ImageFX was a dark horse, entering the AI image generator space much later than its competition, over a year after DALL-E 2 launched. However, the generator’s performance seems to have been worth the wait. The image generator is capable of producing high-quality, realistic outputs, even for difficult objects to render, such as hands.

It boasts a unique feature–expressive chips–which make it easier to refine your prompt or generate new ones via dropdowns that highlight parts of your prior prompt and suggest different word changes to modify your output.

ImageFX also includes suggestions for the image style you’d like your image rendered in, such as photorealistic, 35mm film, minimal, sketch, handmade, and more. Both of these features combined make it perfect for beginners to begin experimenting.

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DreamStudio by Stability AI

Best AI image generator for customization

DreamStudio features: Powered by: SDXL 1.0 by Stability AI | Access via: website | Output: 1 images per 1.8 credits | Price: $1 per 100 credits | Credits: 25 free credits when you open account, by purchase once you run out

Stability AI created the massively popular, open-sourced, text-to-image generator, Stable Diffusion. Users can download it and use it at no cost; however, this typically requires some technical skill.

To make the technology readily accessible to everyone (regardless of skill level), Stability AI created DreamStudio, which incorporates Stable Diffusion in a UI that is easy to understand and use.

One of the standouts of the platform is that it includes many different entries for customization including a “negative prompt” where you can delineate the specifics of what you’d like to avoid in the final image. You can also easily change the image ratio which is major since most AI image generators automatically deliver 1:1.

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Dream by WOMBO

Best AI image generator for your phone

Dream by WOMBO features: Powered by: WOMBO AI’s machine learning algorithm | Access via: Mobile and desktop versions | Output: one image with a free version, four with a paid plan | Price: Free limited access

This app took the first-place spot for the best overall app in Google Play’s 2022 awards and it has five stars on Apple’s App Store with 141.6K ratings. With the app, you can create art and images with the simple input of a quick prompt.

An added plus about this AI image generator is that it allows you to pick different design styles such as realistic, expressionism, comic, abstract, fanatical, ink, and more.

In addition to the app, it has a free desktop mobile version that is simple to use. If you want to take your use of the app to the next level, you can pay $90 per year or $10 per month.

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Craiyon

Best no frills AI image generator

Craiyon features: Powered by: Their own model | Access via: Craiyon website | Output: Six images per prompt | Price: Free, unlimited prompts

Despite originally having the name DALL-E mini, this AI image generator is NOT affiliated with OpenAI or DALL-E 2. Rather, it is an open-source alternative. The name DALL-E 2 mini is somewhat fitting, however, as it does everything that DALL-E 2 does, just with less precise renditions.

Unlike DALL-E 2, the outputs from Craiyon lack a bit of quality and take just a bit longer to render, approximately a minute. The good thing? Because you have unlimited prompts, you can continue to tweak the prompt until you get exactly what you’re envisioning. The site is also so simple to use, making it perfect for someone wanting to experiment with AI image generators without the extra bells and whistles.

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Midjourney

Best AI image generator for highest-quality photos

Midjourney features: Powered by: Midjourney; utilizes Discord | Access via: Discord | Output: four images per prompt | Price: Starts at $10/month

I often play around with AI image generators because of how fun and easy creating digital artwork is. Despite all my experiences with different AI generators, nothing could have prepared me for Midjourney — in the best way.

The output of this image was so crystal clear that I had a hard time believing it wasn’t an actual image someone took of the prompt I put in. This software is so good that it has produced award-winning art.

The biggest con is that it is not user-friendly, and honestly confuses me every time. If you also need the extra direction, check out our step-by-step how-to here: How to use Midjourney to generate amazing images and art.

Another problem is that you may not be able to access it for free. When I just tried to render images, I was met with this error message, “Due to extreme demand we can’t provide a free trial right now. Please /subscribe to create images with Midjourney.”

To show you just how good the renditions can be, I included a close-up below from a prior time I tested the generator. At the time the prompt was: a baby Yorkie sitting on a comfy couch in front of the NYC skyline.

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Generative AI by Getty Images

Best AI Image Generator for businesses

Generative AI by Getty Images features: Powered by: NVIDIA Picasso | Access via: website | Output: 4 images per prompt | Price: Paid (price undisclosed, have to contact the team)

One of the biggest issues with AI image generators is that they typically train their generators on content from the entirety of the internet, which means that the generators use aspects of creators’ art without compensation. It also puts businesses at risk of copyright infringement.

Generative AI by Getty Images tackles that issue by generating images with content solely from Getty Images’ vast creative library with full indemnification for commercial use. The generated images will have Getty Images’ standard royalty-free license, assuring customers that their content is fair to use without fearing legal repercussions.

Another pro is that contributors whose content was used to train the models will be compensated for their inclusion in the training set. This is a great solution for businesses who want stock photos that match their creative vision but do not want to deal with copyright-related issues.

Shop now at Getty Images

What is the best AI image generator?

Image Creator from Microsoft Designer is the best overall AI image generator due to it being powered by OpenAI’s latest DALL-E technology. Like DALL-E 2, Image Creator from Microsoft Designer combines accuracy, speed, and cost-effectiveness and can generate high-quality images in just a matter of seconds. Because it is powered by a more advanced model, in most instances, the images are higher quality than DALL-E 2’s.

Whether you want to generate images of animals, objects, or even abstract concepts, Image Creator from Microsoft Designer is capable of producing accurate depictions that meet your expectations. It is highly efficient, user-friendly, and cost-effective.

Which is the right AI image generator for you?

Although I crowned Image Creator from Microsoft Designer the best AI image generator overall, other AI image generators perform better for specific needs. For example, suppose you are a professional using AI image generation for your business. In that case, you may need a tool like Generative AI by Getty Images which renders images safe for commercial use.

On the other hand, if you just want to play with AI art generating for entertainment purposes, Craiyon might be the best option because it’s free, unlimited, and easy to use.

Choose this AI image generator…	If you want…
Image Creator from Microsoft Designer	The best AI image generator overall. In Copilot, you can get all of your image-generating needs met while chatting with the bot and getting all of your questions answered. The image generator is reliable, quick, and accessible.
DALL-E 2	The original best AI image generator that combines accuracy, speed, and cost-effectiveness. It allows users to generate high-quality images quickly and easily, making it an ideal tool for artists, designers, and anyone looking to create unique and original content.
ImageFX by Google	The best AI image generators for beginners with multiple features that facilitate prompt writing, including expressive chips and style suggestions.
DreamStudio by Stability AI	The best customizable AI image generator that includes tools in its UI that make it easy to get the exact rendition you want. The fields include size, style, negative prompts, image prompts, and more.
Dream by WOMBO	The best AI image generator for your phone with multiple templates, realistic renditions, and a mobile app. It also has a free limited access version, making it a great option for those who don’t want to spend too much money.
Craiyon	The best no frills AI image generator with unlimited prompts and a straightforward interface.
Midjourney	The best AI image generator for high-quality renderings and crystal clear images with a Discord community, allowing you to share and view other users’ outputs.
Generative AI by Getty Images	The best AI image generator for business applications. It generates images with content from Getty Image’s vast creative library, making the images rendered commercially safe.

How did I choose these AI image generators?

To find the best AI image generators, I tested each generator listed and compared their performance. The factors that went into testing performance included UI/UX, image results, cost, speed, and availability. Each AI image generator had different strengths and weaknesses, making each one the ideal fit for different individuals as listed next to my picks.

What is an AI image generator?

An AI image generator refers to software that uses AI to create images from user text inputs, usually within seconds. The images vary in style depending on the capabilities of the software but can typically render an image in any style you want including 3D, 2D, cinematic, modern, Renaissance, and more.

How do AI image generators work?

Like any other AI model, AI image generators work on learned data they are trained with. Typically, these models are trained on billions of images, which it analyzes for characteristics. These insights are then used by the model to create new images.

Are there ethical implications with AI image generators?

AI image generators are trained on billions of images found throughout the internet. These images are often artwork that belongs to a specific artist, which is then reimagined and repurposed by AI art to generate your image. Although it’s not the same image, the new image has elements of artists’ original work which is not credited to them.

Are there DALL-E 2 alternatives worth considering?

Contrary to what you might think, there are so many AI image generators other than DALL-E 2 out there. Some produce even better results than OpenAI’s software. If you want to try something different, check out one of our alternatives listed above or the three additional options below.

Nightcafe

Nightcafe is a multi-purpose AI image generator that is worth trying becaus it allows users to create unique and original artwork by using different inputs and styles, including abstract, impressionism, expressionism, and more.

Shop now at Creator.nightcafe

Canva

Canva is a versatile and powerful AI image generator that offers a wide range of options. It allows users to create professional-looking designs for different marketing channels, including social media posts, ads, flyers, brochures, and more within its design platform.

Shop now at Canva

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12 Best Linux Distros You Should Use

By admin February 28, 2024

12 Best Linux Distros You Should Use, Out of all the operating systems in existence, Linux (also known as GNU/Linux) is the most frowned upon, and there are a few reasons for the same. While overall adaptability, software support, and user experience remain the most common issues with Linux, OS saturation is also a huge issue.

That said, most people involved in Linux treat the overwhelming number of choices as a plus point, as it gives them the ability and flexibility to try out different desktop environments and flavors and, ultimately, settle for what they like the best. However, if you haven’t tried Linux yet and want to start using it for whatever reason, here are some of the best Linux distros you should use and get started with.

1. Linux Mint

Linux Mint has established itself as one of the best distros for beginner Linux users, thanks to Cinnamon’s simplicity (Linux Mint’s desktop environment) and ease of use. It’s an Ubuntu-based operating system that’s good for day-to-day usage and gaming. The Windows-like feel of Mint makes users switching from Windows feel at home and is one of the main selling points of the distro.

Linux Mint also caters to users who hold system stability of utmost importance. A new version of Mint is released every six months, and it’s usually very stable with occasional bugs. And for those who don’t like Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce are two other officially supported flavors of Linux Mint.

Cinnamon is popular because it uses far fewer system resources than GNOME, meaning it’s easier to run Linux Mint on old hardware with ease – like other lightweight Linux distros we recommend. Unlike Ubuntu, Linux Mint drops support for Snaps and embraces Flatpaks with open arms, and lately, the OS is doing its best to discern itself from Ubuntu. And well, it has been successful in doing the same. Overall, it’s a great Linux distro for beginners because everything just works out of the box.

Pros	Cons
Light on system resources	New features take time to appear
A great starting point for beginners	Could be a little too basic for advanced users
Great stability	Not very customizable

System Requirements:

• 2GB RAM (4GB Recommended)

• 20GB Disk space (100GB Recommended)

• 1024×728 pixels resolution display

• A dual-core CPU

Flavors: Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce
Download Linux Mint

12 Best Linux Distros You Should Use

2. Pop!_OS

Pop!_OS is developed by a company named System76, which also sells PC hardware and laptops powered by the OS. The OS was originally made with STEM professionals in mind and comes with NVIDIA drivers preinstalled. Soon, the distro became a hit among gamers, largely because installing NVIDIA drivers on Linux wasn’t the most user-friendly work in the world.

Pop!_OS is based on Ubuntu and uses the COSMIC desktop environment, which is Pop!_OS’ homemade desktop environment based on GNOME. However, unlike GNOME, it’s a lot cleaner and has got a few neat tricks up its sleeve, like the keyboard shortcuts, which makes Pop!_OS one of the cleanest Linux systems. Overall, Pop!_OS is a great option for budding creators as well as folks who want to game on Linux out of the box.

Speaking of COSMIC, System76 has recently decided to distance itself from GNOME and recode the entire desktop environment in Rust programming language. Rust-based COSMIC was announced a few years ago and is currently about to transition from the Alpha to Beta stages. The revamped COSMIC will supposedly be faster, smoother, and less clunky than GNOME-based COSMIC.

Pros	Cons
An excellent choice for gamers and content creators	Not a cutting-edge distro
A great starting point for beginners	Requires a decently specced PC
Stable, customizable, and feature-rich	.

System Requirements:

• 4GB (8GB Recommended)

• 40GB Disk space (100GB Recommended)

• A dual-core, 64-bit CPU

Flavors: None
Download Pop!_OS

3. Fedora

Fedora is the Ubuntu of the new world. It’s a cutting-edge Linux distro that’s an upstream version of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It uses the same RPM package manager and embraces Flatpaks and App Images, but more importantly (and the selling point of the distro) comes with a near-stock version of GNOME. Fedora is often one of the first Linux distros to embrace the latest versions of GNOME in its beta builds, which comes out every six months.

And since Fedora is open-source, it also has a few community versions called Spins. Some of the popular spins are Plasma, Xfce, LXQT, MATE, and Cinnamon. Overall, Fedora might not be the best option for absolute beginners, but it’s great for those who know their way around Linux. Besides, Fedora’s got one of the most active distro communities on Reddit. Hence, if something goes wrong, the group of enthusiasts will always be there for the rescue.

One of the areas where the OS doesn’t excel is with regard to system requirements. GNOME is a heavy desktop environment compared to others. As a result, it needs at least 8GB RAM and a decently powerful CPU/GPU to perform well.

Pros	Cons
Cutting-edge	Learning curve for a beginner
Great for stock GNOME lovers	Requires a decently specced PC
Great for gamers and content creators	.
Excellent community	.

System Requirements:

• 2GB (8GB Recommended)

• 15GB Disk space (100GB Recommended)

• A 2GHz dual-core, 64-bit CPU

Flavors: GNOME, KDE Plasma, Xfce, LXQT, MATE, Cinnamon, LXDE, SOAS, and i3 Tiling Window Manager
Download Fedora

4. Manjaro

If your friend says, “I installed an Arch-based Linux OS in just a few hours,” they are probably referring to Manjaro. Arch has always been an inconvenience for new Linux folks, but Manjaro makes it easy to taste Arch. It’s one of the best Arch-based Linux distros that comes in three official flavors/variants — KDE Plasma, Xfce, and GNOME.

Like Fedora Spins, Manjaro has lots of community versions like Budgie, Cinnamon, and MATE too. Hence, you are not devoid of choices in this case. That said, Manjaro isn’t a pure Arch-based system because it isn’t as cutting-edge as the next option on our list. Manjaro has its own repository where all updates from Arch are merged and pushed later. Stability is of great importance for Manjaro, hence, the new packages from Arch are thoroughly tested before they are merged into the OS.

If you’re confused about which flavor to choose, GNOME, KDE Plasma, and Budgie are great if you have a decent PC. However, if you are running ancient hardware, we recommend Xfce or MATE as they use far lesser system resources.

Pros	Cons
Makes installing and trying out Arch easy	Slower update releases than Arch or EndeavourOS
Comes in a variety of flavors	Known to break sometimes
Great hardware support	.

System Requirements:

• 2GB RAM (8GB Recommended)

• 30GB Disk space (80GB Recommended)

• A 2GHz Dual-core, 64-bit CPU

Flavors: GNOME, KDE Plasma, Xfce, Budgie, MATE, Cinnamon, Sway, and i3 Tiling Window Manager
Download Manjaro

5. EndeavourOS

If Manjaro’s “Endeavours” don’t align with your philosophies, EndeavourOS gets a lot of things right for an Arch-based distro. It offers you the flexibility to choose whichever Desktop Environment you like, has the Arch DNA in its veins, and offers quick package upgrades.

For starters, it comes with a customized Calamares installer, which makes installation easy. EndeavourOS does not have “flavors,” instead it prompts and asks you to select the desktop environment of your choice in Calamares during the installation. Besides, EndeavourOS has a great community and is a stellar alternative to Manjaro, or even Arch, for that matter. If all you need is a great rolling distribution, you cannot go wrong with EndeavourOS.

Unlike Manjaro, in which new packages from Arch take at least three weeks to make it to the system, updates to EndeavourOS arrive at the same time as pure Arch Linux. Also, the overall bloatware on EndeavourOS is less compared to Manjaro, which makes it one of the cleanest Arch-based distros out there.

Pros	Cons
The closest cutting-edge OS to Arch	Learning curve for a beginner
Lots of desktop environment options	Frequent Arch updates might break the system or introduce bugs
Great community	.
Calamares installer makes it easy to install	.

System Requirements:

• 4GB RAM (8GB Recommended)

• 10GB Disk space (50GB Recommended)

• A dual-core, 64-bit CPU

Flavors: Xfce, Plasma, GNOME, MATE, Cinnamon, Budgie, LxQt, LxDe, and i3-wm
Download EndeavourOS

6. Elementary OS

Yet another Ubuntu-based distribution, Elementary OS is known for its rather striking resemblance to macOS, which makes it a great starting point for folks who want to switch to Linux from macOS.

Elementary OS has a few great homemade apps that look great and work well. In fact, distros such as Pop!_OS use Elementary’s store, and that’s a testament to the effort the Elementary team puts into developing one of these best Linux distros. Overall, Elementary OS is a user-friendly and good-looking distribution that gets most things right.

For starters, Epiphany is a decent browser available on Elementary OS, and apps such as Photos, Music, AppCenter, and more all feel like they actually belong to the OS because they’re consistent. The wallpapers are some of the best you can find in any distro, and the dock and animations make the distro a visual treat.

Pros	Cons
Consistent design language	For absolute beginners; Mediocre to advanced users may not enjoy
Great set of preloaded apps	Not cutting-edge
Easy to install	The AppStore is mostly empty

System Requirements:

• 4GB RAM (8GB Recommended)

• 40GB Disk space (100GB Recommended)

• A 2GHz dual-core, 64-bit CPU

Flavors: None
Download Elementary OS

7. Zorin OS

Windows users make up a huge chunk of the crowd that switches to Linux. Hence, one of the top priorities of a few Linux distros is to make them feel at home. That’s exactly what Zorin OS does with its impeccable UI experience. Its clean, polished UI does give out the feeling of a completely revamped experience while still retaining the bits of Windows UI to comfort ex-Windows users.

Zorin is Ubuntu-based but looks/feels quite unlike Ubuntu both in terms of looks and functionality. There’s also a Lite version that can run on weaker hardware. All in all, Zorin has great documentation and posts for beginners to get started, and more importantly, it is completely free and open-source.

Besides, Zorin OS also has a Pro version that costs $40, and for that price, you get more desktop layout customizations, preloaded apps such as GIMP and Blender, and the ability to share your mouse and keyboard across computers. Now, we wouldn’t recommend going all out on the Pro version, since most of the paid features can be added by using extensions. However, for what it is, Zorin OS is definitely one of the cleanest and best Linux distros out there.

Pros	Cons
Made with Windows users in mind	Limited customization options in the free version
Clean and consistent user interface	Updates are slow to arrive due to the Ubuntu base
Easy to install	.
Great for browsing and creating content	.
Has a Lite version for old hardware	.

System Requirements:

• 2GB RAM (4GB Recommended)

• 40GB Disk space (100GB Recommended)

• 1024 x 768 resolution display

• A 1GHz dual-core, 64-bit CPU

Flavors: None
Download Zorin OS

8. Garuda Linux

Garuda does things slightly differently than other best Linux distros on this list. For starters, contrary to the regular Linux kernel, it uses something called Linux-zen kernel, which claims to significantly improve the overall system and gaming performance.

The centerpiece of Garuda Linux is its UI. It gets lots of modern elements with gradient coloring splashed across the OS. Garuda Linux is based on Arch and follows the same rolling release pattern. It’s offered in multiple flavors; some of the most popular ones are GNOME, Cinnamon, Xfce, and MATE.

The flagship Garuda variant comes with a heavily customized KDE Plasma and is offered in two editions — Dragonized and Dragonized Gaming. The latter includes all the apps you’d need to get started with gaming on Linux such as Steam, Lutris, Heroic Games Launcher, & more, which makes it one of the best Linux distros for gaming.

Pros	Cons
Cutting-edge, thanks to its Arch base	Could be a bit too overwhelming for new users
Highly customizable KDE Plasma interface	Higher system requirements
Gradient theming and icons look fantastic out of the box	Performance and stability issues due to Arch updates
Dragonized Gaming edition brings all gaming tools for you	.
More optimized Linux-zen kernel for better performance	.

System Requirements:

• 4GB RAM (8GB Recommended)

• 40GB Disk space (100GB Recommended)

• A 2GHz dual-core, 64-bit CPU

Flavors: KDE Plasma, GNOME, Cinnamon, Xfce, MATE, LxQT, Wayfire, Sway, i3 WM, Qtile, and KDE Lite
Download Garuda Linux

9. Solus

Solus is a rather underrated Linux distro. The OS focuses keenly on developers, gamers, and content creators by including the tools required to get started with development, gaming, and content creation. The flagship flavor of Solus OS uses their in-house Budgie desktop, which is one of the cleanest desktop environments you can try.

What makes Solus different is that it doesn’t follow in the same footsteps as other Linux distros. It’s an independently developed distro with a completely different user experience compared to others on this list. Although, if you do not end up liking Budgie, you can switch to other desktop environments, including GNOME, Plasma, and MATE.

Because Solus is an independent distro, it uses its own package manager called Eopkg. It’s quite similar to Apt in Ubuntu but may have a learning curve since the commands are a bit different from the regular Apt commands. However, if you don’t end up liking Eopkg, you could always use Flatpaks and Snaps on Solus. All things considered, it’s one of the best Linux distros out there.

Pros	Cons
Independent OS; Doesn’t depend on any other OS	Eopkg has a shallow learning curve
Highly customizable interface	Slow development pace
The Flagship Budgie desktop looks great out of the box	Lack of software in repos
Comes preinstalled with a few tools for developers	.

System Requirements“

• 8GB RAM (Recommended)

• GeForce 760 and above graphics card with at least 2GB of video memory.

• 40GB Disk space (100GB Recommended)

• A 2GHz dual-core, 64-bit CPU

Flavors: KDE Plasma, GNOME, MATE, Budgie
Download Solus

10. Ubuntu

In the end, we have something that you would have found in the first two entries had you read this list a couple of years ago. Ubuntu started off with the goal of making Linux more accessible and easily installable than Debian, which was then’s Arch Linux. And, for the most part, it succeeded in achieving that goal, only to succumb to a corporate illness a decade after.

Don’t get us wrong, Ubuntu is still a great operating system, but it has lost the bling it used to have a few years ago, and a few weird and poor decisions are to be blamed. Without getting into the details, Ubuntu uses GNOME by default, which is a tad bit customized.

Ubuntu uses Snaps for package management, and the latter is the reason the Linux community has started repelling it. They completely dropped out-of-the-box support for Flatpaks, as we mentioned in our Ubuntu 23.04 features list. Although it’s a good starting point for a complete beginner, we would argue there are better Linux distros to try than Ubuntu.

Ubuntu also raised a few privacy concerns when it started preinstalling Amazon and sharing data with the same a few years ago. Most of the users accused Canonical (Ubuntu’s parent company) of tracking user activity by installing spyware, and it made people lose trust in Ubuntu.

Pros	Cons
Beginner-friendly	Snaps are too slow; No Flatpak support
Customizable	Requires a decent PC to run smoothly
.	Privacy concerns

System Requirements:

• 4GB RAM (8GB Recommended)

• 25GB Disk space (100GB Recommended)

• A 2GHz dual-core, 64-bit CPU

Flavors: KDE Plasma, GNOME, Cinnamon, Budgie, Kylin, Studio, Unity, Xfce, MATE, LxQT
Download Ubuntu

11. KDE Neon

KDE Neon is known to provide a flagship KDE experience, and it delivers! It’s a culmination of the latest from KDE Plasma while maintaining the stability thanks to the Ubuntu LTS base. The latest software from KDE always makes its way to Neon first and is a great way of trying out the latest features that the Desktop Environment has to offer while avoiding butchering the stable feel of the operating system.

Since Neon is based on Ubuntu LTS, each major release comes with five years of support and a stable tried and tested LTS Kernel. Neon also has some of the best collections of software thanks to KDE Plasma interface, meaning if you’re a creative individual, you could use some of the many tools the OS has on offer to boost your productivity, creativity, and be more efficient in your art.

Although most may like the interface and apps, like any other software, some may find the collection of apps a bit overwhelming. Hence, Neon may not be the distro for you if you prefer minimalism. Overall, Neon is easily one of the best Linux distributions you can try.

Pros	Cons
Runs Vanilla KDE	Could be overwhelming for beginners
Comprehensive suite of apps	Not the best distro for minimalists
Customizable
Stable Ubuntu Base	.

System Requirements:

• 4GB RAM (8GB Recommended)

• 25GB Disk space (100GB Recommended)

• A 2GHz dual-core, 64-bit CPU

Download KDE Neon

12. Nobara

Nobara is not a mainstream Linux distributions and isn’t known by many except those who closely follow the Proton Compatibility Layer, Wine for Linux gaming, and Fedora. Nobara was created by Glorious Eggroll, the creator of Proton-GE. Nobara market’s itself as a Linux distro for gamers and creators because it adds and solves a lot of things that a Linux gamer may find annoying and needed.

For example, if you’re deeply immersed in Proton and Proton-GE, you may want to install new Proton versions to test for improvements and hence Nobara comes with Proton-QT preinstalled. Similarly, it’s always updated with the latest version of MangoHUD, Kernel patches, has automatic driver installation for NVIDIA GPUs, and comes with things such as OnlyOffice, Steam, Lutris, Flatpak preinstalled.

Pros	Cons
Lots of important preinstalled bits	Is a distro for Gaming and Creative work; May not be ideal for daily usage
Fedora-based, stable	.
NVIDIA Drivers are automatically installed	.

System Requirements:

• 4GB RAM (8GB Recommended)

• 25GB Disk space (100GB Recommended)

• A 2GHz dual-core, 64-bit CPU

Flavors: Nobara Official, GNOME, KDE
Download Nobara

Keep Reading

12 Best Linux Distros You Should Use

1. Linux Mint

12 Best Linux Distros You Should Use

2. Pop!_OS

3. Fedora

4. Manjaro

5. EndeavourOS

6. Elementary OS

7. Zorin OS

8. Garuda Linux

9. Solus

10. Ubuntu

11. KDE Neon

12. Nobara

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