Mageia
A community fork of Mandriva with its own control center.
What is Mageia?
Mageia is a community-run continuation of Mandriva Linux. It offers KDE Plasma, GNOME, and Xfce editions and a graphical control center for hardware, network, and system settings. Releases are fixed, with support that overlaps the next version.
Who is Mageia for?
Mageia fits best for everyday use. Where it ranks in our lists:
Pros
- Central graphical control center
- Community governance
- Fixed, predictable releases
Cons
- Release gaps can be long
- Smaller package selection
Mageia system requirements
For a comfortable desktop with a modern web browser, plan for about 4 GB of RAM. Mageia is available for x86_64. Leave at least 25 GB of storage for the system and applications. These figures are editorial guidance; check the official documentation for minimums.
Try Mageia before you install
Write the image to a USB stick and boot it as a live session to test Wi-Fi, graphics, sound, and suspend on your own computer. A browser trial on DistroSea shows the desktop, but cannot verify your hardware.
Compare Mageia with…
Best Mageia alternatives
Mageia: common questions
What is Mageia based on?
Mageia is an independent distribution; it is not derived from another Linux distribution. It uses urpmi · DNF for software and systemd as its init system.
Is Mageia good for beginners?
Yes. Mageia is one of the more approachable distributions: central graphical control center.
How much RAM does Mageia need?
We suggest about 4 GB of RAM for a comfortable desktop experience with a modern browser. This is editorial guidance, not the project’s official minimum, which can be lower. It runs on x86_64.
What desktop does Mageia use?
Mageia offers KDE Plasma, GNOME, Xfce.
Is Mageia a rolling release?
No. Mageia uses fixed releases; you upgrade to a new version periodically.
Is Mageia free?
Yes, Mageia is free to download and use.