Bazzite, the Fedora-based Linux distribution optimized for gaming and living room setups, released unstable build 43.20260317 on 2026-03-17 with a major kernel upgrade. The update jumps from kernel 6.17.7 to 6.19.8, now sourced from the Open Gaming Collective kernel maintained by the ublue-os project. This change consolidates Bazzite's kernel management and aligns it with the broader Universal Blue ecosystem of custom Fedora images.
The release also switches Nvidia users to the open-source nvidia-open driver by default, moving away from the proprietary kernel module. Nvidia driver versions remain at 595.45.04 for current-gen cards and update to 580.142 for the long-term support branch. Desktop environment versions hold at GNOME 49.5 and KDE Plasma 6.6.2, while Mesa graphics drivers stay on version 26.0.2.
Other notable changes include the addition of umu-wrapper 0.2.0 for improved game compatibility layer management, updated kmod-xone drivers for Xbox controller support, and various package updates from the Terra repository. The build also adds gmodpatchtool for Garry's Mod compatibility and updates Rustup to version 1.29.0. Users can rebase to this unstable release using the bazzite-rollback-helper tool, though the unstable branch is intended for testing rather than daily use.
