To decide if Garuda is a good choice, it might be good to see how it compares to other well known distributions!
Garuda Linux | Manjaro Linux | Ubuntu | |
Package management | Pacman & Octopi | Pacman & Pamac | APT |
Repository | Arch Repos + Chaotic AUR (precompiled) + AUR (need to compile) | Manjaro Repos (Arch + a bit of testing) + AUR (need to compile) | Ubuntu repos, missing well known software |
Software | Most known software available by default (precompiled) | Many software installable via AUR (need to compile) | Software available via PPA (many different sources) |
Software versions | Always the latest | New versions often a few weeks delayed | Well tested software but not the latest |
Target audience | People who want a good out of the box experience with an opiniated set of applications and settings | People who want a stable environment with little changes - possible only due to freezing repos & reinstallation for new releases | |
Installation | Calamares offline installer | Calamares offline installer | Ubuntu installer |
Desktop environments | KDE, Xfce, GNOME, Cinnamon, i3wm, Sway, and Hyprland. | KDE, Xfce, GNOME, Cinnamon, i3wm, and Sway. | GNOME - Additional DEs available as different distributions, eg. Kubuntu |