Following the official release of Fedora 44, Bazzite's lead developer Kyle Gospodnetich has announced the release of Bazzite 44, the atomic gaming-focused distribution based on Fedora, which brings Gnome 50 and KDE Plasma 6.6, as well as many of the same improvements as the workstation OS. However, there are some notable differences for the atomic distribution—namely, the Linux kernel is still on version 6.19.x. Other notable changes and updates to Bazzite 44 include an update to the KDE Plasma Login Manager for KDE versions, a new version of the Bazaar app store, improved image security for ISOs, built-in support for Elgato 4K capture cards, and the removal of QEMU and ROCM, Bazzite 44 also includes the latest ASUS Linux patches for ASUSCtl, which provides access to LED customization, fan control, and various BIOS, boot, and power settings. While the desktop images of Bazzite 44 are already available, the handheld versions have been delayed, with the developer stating that "we are slow-rolling this update due to the nature and amount of changes present in it to ensure that the vast majority of our existing users have a good experience." He also indicates that there will be more news about Bazzite 44's handheld images "in the coming weeks," so it seems like the delay will be more than just a few days. While this may be somewhat disappointing to hear, it also means that the developers will have more time to test and validate Bazzite 44 ahead of release, hopefully delivering a more stable OS as a result. Bazzite's development team has also promised to ship the new VRAM management patch that recently made a buzz in the Linux gaming world when it releases kernel version 7.
