64-bit

Arch Linux is one of the oldest and most popular distributions, as well as one of the first rolling releases. For years it has had a formidable reputation for its manual install, which requires patience and documentation for new users to master.

Arch Linux 2023.12.01 represents a mild departure from this tradition. Although it lacks a graphical installer, it includes a text-based guided installer, which has only been available for the last couple of years. When typing archinstall at the root prompt, users can search for the latest version of the installer and then select via the keyboard a series of choices at each step. Guidance is minimal, without instruction or any more feedback than what is selected, but it is enough that anyone who has installed Linux before is likely to have few problems.

Other new features include a unified kernel image (UKI) to boot easily from UEFI or bootloaders and support for proprietary NVIDIA drivers, but archinstall remains the outstanding feature of the release. Thanks to archinstall, installing Arch Linux remains a useful way to learn more about the structure of Linux. Although Arch Linux 2023.12.01 requires less expertise than earlier releases, it still offers a hands-on experience that assumes at least some familiarity with Linux.