Tuxedo OS 2 is one of the BEST KDE Plasma distributions (+ Tuxedo Stellaris 16 review)

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#Linux #Tuxedo #stellaris

00:00 Intro
00:28 Sponsor: 10% off your first website with Squarespace
01:22 What is Tuxedo OS?
02:24 Better hardware support and drivers
04:06 Semi-Rolling: the best of both worlds
05:03 Tuxedo Control Center
06:32 Other changes
07:49 Is it any good?
08:49 Stellaris 16: Linux gaming laptop
13:56 Tuxedo OS on a Tuxedo PC

Tuxedo OS is a semi-rolling release Linux distro that Tuxedo makes, and is freely available to download on any computer.

Tuxedo OS comes with KDE plasma, it gets rid of snaps, they have their own repos for additional drivers and apps, they have a hybrid rolling release model for the desktop and drivers, they have their own custom kernel with better hardware support, and a few very useful utilities.

The repos contain their custom kernel, which include patches that they tested and implemented before the mainline kernel, so newer hardware works better. The fixes they develop themselves are also mainlined of course.

The Tuxedo OS repos include more up to date drivers, they have firmware for their own devices, they have packages for web browsers that Ubuntu only provides as Snaps, and for a few up to date apps that aren't in the Ubuntu repos, or are outdated.

While the base system and base packages are from Ubuntu, they ship drivers, a linux kernel, and the KDE plasma desktop on a rolling release model, which means you're always getting the latest versions of your KDE apps and desktop, and a recent kernel version, and the associated drivers.

Tuxedo OS also embarks the Tuxedo Control center. It's an open source graphical app that lets you set your power profile, between a few presets, like extreme powersave, high performance, quiet, and more. You can also change the battery charging options to improve the battery's lifespan.

Tuxedo OS enables os-prober. In the boot options, you'll find a web based reinstall option as well.

The Stellaris 16 is the latest entry in the Stellaris line. It comes with a 16:10 2560 x 1600 panel, that has very vivid colors, 350 nits of brightness, and perfect viewing angles. It can also refresh at 240hz.

You also get a core i9 13900HX, which is a 16 core, 32 threads CPU, that can go up to 5.4Ghz.

You can pair that with an RTX 4060 Mobile, or up to a 4090,.

RAM options go from 16 GB of 4800Mhz DDR5 to 64 gigs of 5600mhz DDR5, and for storage, you can get up to 2 4terabytes PCIE 4 SSDs.

In terms of ports, you get 2 USB A 3.2gen 2 ports, one USB A 3.2 gen 1, a full size SD card slot, a headphone jack,, the ports for the Aquaris cooling sytem, HDMI 2.1, 2.5 gigs ethernet, and Thunderbolt 4.

The keyboard is really excellent, with good key travel, and a quiet sound. You can also get it with a mechanical keyboard.

THe touchpad isn't glass, but it's very smooth, even though it's really small for this form factor.

Speakers are decent, with a good amount of bass, but they'll start saturating at max volume. They're bottom firing so if you place the laptop on a soft surface, you'll muffle them easily.

And the mic and webcam are potato quality as is unfortunately too often the case.

As per battery life, you get a 99Wh battery, on the powersave mode, using the integrated GPU, it lasted for 7 hours with youtube videos playing in a loop over wifi in Firefox, with the display at 240hz.

So, on a Tuxedo computer, you get a few cool things on top of the default Tuxedo experience.

You can control the color and brightness of the keyboard backlight, you can control the webcam, and its resolution, framerate, brightness, contrast, exposure, dynamic range, color balance.

TOMTE automatically recognizes the model you're using, and it checks for the drivers and packages that will give you the best experience.

[john]

As a German, the biggest reason to use Tuxedo OS is that I get customer support in my native language for my Tuxedo Laptop if I have any issues. I like the idea of getting professional help if I have issues on my work machine that I need to work reliably.

[mirage]

Tuxedo OS is looking solid. I'm a happy camper on Fedora, but if things there ever went belly up then this is something I'd consider switching to. Good to see them maintaining their own kernel and Mesa driver. The ones in Ubuntu can get a tad ancient.

[calabi-yau]

Great video, I really appreciate the highlighting of what is unique about the distros you review, i.e. what do they do themselves that no one else does. That granular control of performance is awesome.

[chaoticpanda]

There is a serious shortage of entry level budget Linux laptops.

[FengLengshun]

I actually used this before I messed around too much and decided to use KDE neon for further playing around. It's pretty good, it's tough deciding whether I like Tuxedo OS or KFocus more. I do really like the powerplan app they have, and their automated power adjustment feels like the only one that works without major compromises.

I think it's a solid alternative if you don't align with Kubuntu, Neon, or KFocus. I honestly just wish that they also have FerenOS theming/UX options but it's clear that it's... not easy to accomplish. If I could have that and have an immutable version of Tuxedo OS I'd probably use it full-time on my laptop

[theodoros_]

Other OEMs usually package some mediocre software with their devices, but Tuxedo seems to have made some nice and actually useful stuff, and that's without even installing bloatware alongside.

[ccroy]

I just installed Tuxedo OS on my ThinkPad. I really like KDE Neon, but miss having a power level setting similar to Windows. My setup is pretty stock so switching didn't take too long, an hour or 2. So far so good.

[yairmohr]

Great. Another distro to think about just a week after I chose to delete Microsoft Malware OS... Emmm, sorry, Windows 11, from my laptop and install Mint - which took me several days, since Acer has an evil, evil BIOS system that made it IMPOSSIBLE to move smoothly. Even now, after several attempts at starting over, it's still buggy and laggy for some unknown reason, despite working great on both my other PCs.

[kbhasi]

Ooh! I've seen them sponsor your videos before.
Syatem76 has 'Pop_OS!', and now Tuxedo has 'Tuxedo OS'! I really like that they went with Plasma for their desktop instead of anything GTK-based.

[someITGuy]

"Wichtelmännchen" is a word that should definitely be used more often. Fun fact: It could also be used as a literally translation of the word "Gnome". Which bears some humour since Tuxedo OS is based on KDE . 😄

[missingfaktor]

I got my Tuxedo Stellaris 26 a couple of weeks ago, and I'm absolutely loving it! Although there are certainly some bugs that I need to get resolved soon with the customer support. Not completely surprised as I've never had a Linux setup that was bug-free to start with.

[hskaushikmurthy]

This looks great. I will try this out. Thanks for the video❤

[didzisuzulins]

Thanks for pointing out Fedora repo of Tuxedo Control Center. I will try it out on my 4 years old Tuxedo laptop. Seems it was not available back in 2019, because I remember I was a bit disappointed finding out they support only Ubuntu based distros. Afterwards I didn't try to search if things has changed. 🙂

[gwgux]

Thanks for covering this. I didn't know much about this distro at all prior to this video. Looks to be a solid KDE Plasma focused distro which as a fan of that DE myself I can appreciate. Though I do wonder how much they actually need Kubuntu for. If they're doing rolling release on their kernel and driver updates, KDE, and their own config utilities, I wonder if they eventually plan on just cutting over to their own base system at some point.

[markh.]

"Your colleagues will staple your forehead to your desk!" ROFLMAO!!

[MasterQuestMaster]

0:28 And here I thought today’s sponsor was going to be Tuxedo xD

[electroC]

Thank's to your reviews recently purchase a TUXEDO Pulse 15 - Gen2 and I am really happy with this combo (hardware+software) !!!

[jolynele]

tuxedo os works best in tuxedo devices, and it looks really interesting. i do think some day ill get one of their 14-inch offerings because i am a sucker for tkl or smaller keyboards and i like my laptops to be portable

[kingklump]

I seriously wish I could afford one of these laptops. It's awesome!

[false_positive]

I have it on my clevo laptop, i was a distrohopper until i found tuxedo os 😌
only issue so far is closing the lid does not lock the screen, even though the setting is made…