Frequently Asked Questions

NebiOS is mostly made by one person, Mx. Sarp Mateson under the umbrella of their organisation, NebiSoft.

Yes. Before NebiOS, there was a project called Spez Linux. It started as a SUSE Studio appliance around 2014–2015, then moved to an Ubuntu base around 2017. Unfortunately, SUSE Studio shut down, taking the original builds with it. The ISOs that were later hosted on SourceForge have also been removed. Wayback Machine coverage from that era is nearly nonexistent too.

The pre-2021 history is real, just poorly archived — partly due to platform shutdowns outside of my control, and partly because the project wasn't at the scale it is today. I don't want to pretend that history didn't happen, even if most of the evidence is gone.

Partly yes, partly no.

Mac has shaped the desktop paradigm as we know it today — most UX conventions, including those on Windows, trace back to Apple. The resemblance in NebiOS is both a design decision and something personal.

On the design side: I chose a macOS-like layout because it offers visual and experiential consistency, and makes building an adaptive, responsive desktop environment significantly easier. The status bar at the top exists on both iOS and Android. The dock exists on both iOS and macOS. These aren't Mac-exclusive ideas — they're just good UI patterns.

Where I'd push back on the comparison: Apple separates its operating systems by device — macOS, iPadOS, and iOS are distinct, and Apple has never seriously tried to unify them. That separation is actually one of my core frustrations with the current OS landscape, and one of the reasons NebiOS exists.

On a personal level:

I've been developing and daily-driving NebiOS since the beginning. I used to hackintosh my machines whenever I could, but NebiOS X has largely replaced that need, at least aesthetically. Growing up, I always wanted a Mac but ended up stuck on Windows PCs. I finally got my hands on one in 2023, but it didn't last — and honestly, staying with Linux full-time turned out to be the right call. Discovering Linux gave me the opportunity to build something of my own. I tried KDE and GNOME — both impressed me at first — but once NebiDE grew into what it is now, I couldn't go back. It's not perfect, it has bugs, but the technology, the aesthetic, and the integration make it mine.

System requirements are listed on the download page — select your version and they'll appear before you download.

I generally build NebiOS with mid-range hardware from the last ~10 years in mind. It's unlikely to run on something as old as a Core 2 Duo, but if you're aware it may be slow or struggle, you're welcome to try — just know that older hardware isn't officially supported. To be honest, as of writing this (April 2026), the oldest machine I personally test on is a 2018 Dell Latitude 7390 — and it runs well.

Most likely yes. As of April 2026 I have two Nvidia machines myself — an RTX 2060 desktop and a GTX 1650 Max-Q laptop — and both run fine with proprietary drivers installed. Some users do report issues though.

If you're running into problems, there are two options: you can use the experimental ISO that ships with the latest available Nvidia driver — note that Pascal-based cards (GTX 1050 Ti, 1080 Ti, etc.) are not supported by drivers released after 580 (because Nvidia cut the support for Pascal), so this ISO may not work for those. Or you can work around it manually — press Ctrl+Alt+F3 to drop into a TTY, log in with your local account, run sudo systemctl stop greetd to stop the login screen from looping, then install the driver with sudo apt install nvidia-driver-xxx (replace xxx with your driver version) and reboot.

I'd love to support every hardware configuration out there, but realistically that's a very hard thing to do as a solo developer.

You can, but you won't get the same experience as running it on real hardware. The main reason: almost all hypervisors except QEMU — including VirtualBox and VMware — don't support DMA-BUF (a Linux mechanism that lets the GPU share memory directly with the display system). NebiDE is built on Wayfire and wlroots, which strongly recommend — and in practice require — GPU acceleration, so the lack of DMA-BUF support causes noticeable degradation.

That said, here's what I'd recommend depending on your setup:

• QEMU with 3D acceleration enabled — best VM experience by far.
• VMware — in my testing, XWayland-dependent apps don't open, which suggests DMA-BUF support is absent or limited. That said, it causes fewer overall issues than VirtualBox.
• VirtualBox — last resort. Freezes and graphical issues are more common here.

Most problems people experience in VMs come from wlroots/Wayfire, not NebiOS itself. I develop primarily for real hardware, but I do try to improve VM compatibility where I can.

Yes. You can install NebiOS X alongside Windows 11 without issues, as long as Secure Boot is disabled. I haven't personally tested Secure Boot compatibility, so setting it up with Secure Boot on may be tricky — disable it to be safe. Dual boot is there for those who need Windows for specific software, not because Windows is a better alternative.

EFI is recommended. Legacy BIOS mostly works as expected, but I put more focus on EFI support. That said, if you're running NebiOS in a virtual machine, Legacy BIOS tends to offer better compatibility there.

The terminal is Tilix, and the default shortcut is Super + Enter (Super = Windows key, or Command on Mac keyboards). If you'd prefer the classic Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut, you can set it up via Control Center → Shortcuts — remove the existing Ctrl+Alt+T binding (which opens a warning dialog) and rebind it to the terminal.

Right-click on an empty area of the desktop and select Properties. From there you can change your wallpaper (including adding your own image or video), configure slideshow settings, and browse the Wallpaper Store. Widgets can be toggled off from the same window under Misc — note that the change applies on next login.

Yes. Themes and client button layout (close, minimize, maximize) can be changed via Control Center → Ricing Center.

Go to Control Center → Displays. For more advanced configuration, the Displays app in the launcher also works — it comes bundled with WCM (Wayfire Config Manager).

Not natively yet — Wayfire's current architecture doesn't support it out of the box. As a workaround, you can use wl-mirror. Native integration into NebiDE is planned for a future release.

Note: In NebiOS, windows are referred to as clients.

This is intentional. A fixed size keeps the layout consistent across different screen sizes — similar to how macOS handles System Settings. I understand it can feel restrictive, and it's something I may revisit in a future release.

Note: In NebiOS, windows are referred to as clients.

Intentional on both counts. Having close on the left and minimize on the right reduces accidental closures — in my experience, people instinctively reach for the right side to minimize, not close. As for the missing maximize button: NebiOS is designed around gesture-based interactions. To maximize a client, drag it to the top of the screen and let go. The goal is a motion-first experience rather than relying on buttons.

This is a legacy from NebiPad — a touch tablet project developed in parallel with NebiOS starting in 2022, which was later cancelled. The larger icon size was designed for touch input and made sense at the time. It carried over into the desktop version and is on the list to be revisited.

Yes. NebiOS ships with the latest stable Wine (or staging if stable isn't available), so most Windows applications run out of the box.

Yes. Waydroid comes pre-installed, but you'll need to initialize it first — the initialization process downloads the required Android system and vendor images. I've left Waydroid as-is for now, but I do have plans to make the setup process easier in a future release.

Yes — I game on NebiOS myself. Proton is well supported out of the box. For better performance, installing Proton GE manually is recommended, and you can add PROTON_USE_WAYLAND=1 %command% as a launch option in Steam. Running sudo modprobe ntsync also helps. I don't recommend custom kernels — in my experience they tend to break stability.

That said, gaming support is there but it's not NebiOS's primary focus. Don't expect a SteamOS-style experience.

Yes. APT packages can be installed as usual via terminal. .deb files can also be installed by double-clicking them — Bundle Store handles the installation.

For system updates, do NOT use sudo apt upgrade. NebiOS updates are handled differently: First, download the latest NebiOS Update package via the button on the Bundle Store sidebar. Once downloaded, launch it via the Launcher or from ~/Applications/NebiOS_Update.napp. This ensures you have the correct update tool for that specific version.

No. NebiOS works perfectly fine with a local account. During setup (OOBE), you'll reach a NebiCloud sign-in screen — skipping it is completely fine.

No.

For the longer answer: NebiOS itself collects no hardware data and no local data. The only thing collected is which NebiOS version you're running, and only for analytical purposes — not continuously tracked. There are no background telemetry daemons.

NebiCloud and other NebiSoft services collect standard account data (email, username, uploaded content) if you choose to use them — but they're all optional. User data is never sold. Full details are in the Privacy Policy.

Major releases are planned roughly every 2 years. Each release is supported for 3–4 years from its launch date. For example, NebiOS X launched in 2025 — with NebiOS 11 planned for 2027.

On the download page — there's a "Download the source code" button. You can also go directly to the GitLab repository.

NebiOS is and always will be free to download. The restrictions below exist to protect users from being charged for something that should be free, and to maintain the integrity of the ecosystem — not to limit open-source freedom. Unofficial ports of NebiOS components have in the past introduced broken functionality, security regressions, and misrepresented what NebiOS actually is. Restricting redistribution is the only practical way to prevent that.

NebiOS is not a GPL-only distribution. Like most Linux-based systems, it consists of many components, each under its own license — some open-source (Apache 2.0, GPL), some under different terms.

Commercial redistribution is not permitted. This includes reselling installation media, pre-installing NebiOS on hardware for sale, and unauthorized ports or reimplementations. The NebiOS Application Runtime (napp-runtime) includes patented technology that restricts these use cases — not personal or educational use, just commercial redistribution.

All official NebiOS images are free to download from the official website. Buying NebiOS from third-party sellers is unnecessary and does not support the project in any way. Full details in the blog post and Intellectual Property Policy.

Yes, if you think your contribution fits the project's vision. Everything is on GitLab — GitHub won't be used. You're welcome to open a pull request and I'll review it when I can. For anything contribution-related, Discord is the preferred place to reach out first.

A note: suggestions to switch to a different compositor, desktop environment, or distribution base are unlikely to go anywhere. These decisions were made deliberately after years of evaluation — they're not up for reconsideration.

I'd love to accept donations, but Turkey's payment infrastructure makes it nearly impossible right now — PayPal has been unavailable here since 2016, which blocks Stripe, Ko-fi, and Patreon. I'm working on it.

Because I'm one person.

There are people around me who want to help — and I genuinely appreciate that — but between exams, jobs, and life, full-time help is hard to come by. I'm trying to be a one-person army on top of everything else.

To those who say "just work 24/7 and fix it": I'm not a machine. I'm a human being — I get tired, I make mistakes. I built what I dreamed of, and my intentions are good. The parts that feel incomplete aren't there because I don't care. They're there because there are only so many hours in a day.

If something feels unfinished and you want to help, the GitLab is open. If you'd rather just point it out and move on, that's your choice too — but it doesn't move things forward.