Regata OS 25: Gaming, Work, and More in One Polished Distro

The FOSS Force Distro of the Week — Regata OS

Brazil’s Regata OS 25 balances gaming and daily tasks in a polished package. Take a closer look at what this distro brings to the table.

When you think about nations that are leading the way in the Linux distro department, Brazil may not be one of the first to come to mind. However, after reviewing BigLinux back in June, we thought we might try another Brazilian distro this time around.

This week’s entry is Regata OS, a Brazilian distro based interestingly enough on openSUSE and utilizing the latest KDE Plasma desktop. Its latest version, Regata OS 25 Maverick, was released in April.

Regata OS’s main focus is on desktop and gaming use. However, since I’m not a gamer, this testing will be on the day-to-day use aspect of the distro.

Regata OS: A Short History

According to its website, Regata OS made its debut in 2013, and has since gained ground among users who are “looking for a familiar, free alternative to Microsoft Windows that can support the latest technologies, but without losing stability and reliability.”

Fast forward to 2021, when Regata OS 21 Challenger was launched, which brought big changes to the way it’s developed. For example, it uses the stable version of the KDE Plasma desktop instead of the LTS version, and it includes even more important changes under the hood.

Two aspects of Regata that make it stand out when compared to other distros are Regata OS Store, which offers an Android- or iOS-like app store experience, and Regata OS Game Access, for accessing games on platforms such as Epic Games Store, EA Origin, and Ubisoft Connect.

But we’re getting ahead of the story.

Installing Regata OS

The minimum requirements for installing Regata OS are 64-bit 2 GHz dual core processor, 4 GB RAM, 30 GB storage, and a USB port for the install media. Having checked all those boxes, we downloaded the 3.8 GB ISO onto a thumb drive and were on our way.

The installation, which utilizes a modified Calamares installer, starts by having you answer standard installation questions—language, location, keyboard, install disk, name, password—and offers a box to check to make a separate administrator account if needed. After a final rundown of what you’ve asked for, you’re ready to install.

Installing the distro takes about 12 minutes, and after a cursory post-install update, you’re ready to go.

Using Regata OS 25

Right off the bat, Regata OS 25 installs enough software to get you going. It installs the KDE family of software, which is a lot, as well as Firefox web browser, the OnlyOffice suite, as well as some YaST system tools borne of the distro’s openSUSE roots. While it doesn’t include an e-mail client by default, it does provide the VLC media player, which is a surprising plus.

As already mentioned – and this is good news for gamers – it does include things like Steam, along with the Regata OS Store and Regata OS Game Access, for those who like to play away their day.

The Regata OS Store deserves special mention. It provides an Android-like storefront, with a list of categories on the left side. If you don’t find the software you’re looking for on the main page, don’t worry. It’s a simple search away using the search field in the upper left.

Likewise, the Regata OS Game Access seems to offer much in the way of games. A list of available launchers run down the left side of the screen, including Amazon Games, Epic Games Store, EA Apps, Battle.net, Ubisoft Connect, Rockstar Launcher, and GOG Galaxy.

There are plenty of games available. Some are first-person shooters that you either play alone or on a team. There are also many gamer classics, like the Grand Theft Auto family (specifically San Andreas, GTA V, and Vice City), World of Warcraft, the Watch Dogs group (Watch Dogs, Watch Dogs 2, and Legion), and Diablo III and IV. There’s even the Assassin’s Creed series available from Ubisoft.

It’s not all shoot-’em-ups, however. If soccer is more to your liking, there’s EA’s FIFA 18 and 19, and if racing-without-killing-anyone trips your trigger, then there’s EA’s GRID Legends. There’s even EA’s The Sims 4, just in case your own life isn’t interesting enough.

But for now we’re putting aside all this gaming horsepower in order to deal with the day-to-day use of Regata OS 25 to get work done. After installing the Thunderbird e-mail client, the GNU Image Manipulation Program (otherwise known as GIMP), and the LibreOffice suite so I can do my work as a writer, the distro performed flawlessly. Both laptops hardly broke a sweat when multitasking, and the use of online apps – Google Drive, for example – was simple and straightforward.

Final Thoughts

For all the performance nuances that this gaming platform provides, Regata OS 25 Maverick performs day-to-day tasks with remarkable ease and efficiency. Had it provided more common software for daily use in the original installation, Regata OS would be as near a perfect Linux distro as could be expected.

It’s definitely worth trying out, especially for those who are new to Linux with a hankering for gaming.

You can download Regata OS 25, with or without NVIDIA drivers preinstalled, on the project’s download page.

Do you have a distro you think would make a great feature for FOSS Force’s Distro of the Week? Don’t be shy—let us know! Offer your suggestions in the comments below (or use the “contact us” link under our masthead) and we’ll make an effort to make it so… No suggestion is too mainstream or too niche—let us know what you’d like to see!