It has become more user-friendly since I started using it back with version 3.1, and even with little Linux and little commandline experience I found it not too hard. Of course, it is more complicated than Windows or a standard Linux distro. Lack of GPU acceleration is a major drawback, but also a security bonus. I currently use Qubes for most of my activity, and use a Windows machine for games etc. There are threads on the mailing list about users achieving GPU passthrough that are much more recent. Also, if you have a secondary GPU, (i.e. built-in Intel/AMD and a discrete Nvidia/Radeon card), you can attach the 2nd GPU to a VM and have GPU acceleration much more easily. For the important software, that is all Windows/Microsoft specific, so I would say the same goes for other non-Windows OS'es. Recently some alternatives to MS Office that do have better compatibility than LibreOffice were discussed on Wilders. You could also install a Windows HVM on Qubes to use Microsoft specific software.
I have 3 gpus now, an amd one, an nvidia one and my integrated intel one. I was planning to sell one but since prices started dropping i decided to wait a bit https://static.techspot.com/images2/news/bigimage/2021/10/2021-10-11-image-4-j_1100.webp fortunately they are rising again which is great for me selling them especially because my amd gpu is a mining one but i only use it for gaming and thus i can sell it for almost three times the price i bought it xd but i should prob sell now cuz in december no more mining ethereum so maybe they move on to different coin but chances are the demand will drop and lots of miners will be wanting to sell, gah i should have sold back in march-may, oh well So does that mean if i use qubes os i can get gpu passthrough? cuz i didnt understand u what u mean by "attach 2nd gpu to a vm". what does running qubes os have to do with running a vm. Tbh, i still do not get what i gain from running qubes os.
Through IOMMU, PCI devices can be assigned to a specific VM. Qubes OS is already doing this by default for WiFi/Ethernet card and USB controllers, so if they get compromised, only the network/usb VM is compromised, and not the whole machine. You can also assign the GPU pci device to a vm, so then that VM will have graphics acceleration. Every 'Qube' is a VM. Qubes OS is basically a way to run everything in VM's so everything is isolated from each other. As I said, everything is isolated from each other, so security is much better. To compromise the whole machine you need both a kernel exploit for the VM and an exploit for the Xen hypervisor. Since the hypervisor is much smaller than a normal OS kernel, there is much less attack surface, and Qubes further reduces it by removing parts they don't need.
Qubes OS 4.1-rc1 has been released! https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2021/10/11/qubes-4-1-rc1/ Release notes: https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/releases/4.1/release-notes/
Oh well I don't have VT-d anyway cuz for some reason the 4770k and the 4670k are the ONLY processors from intel haswell 4th gen cpus starting from 4400 and above that doesn't have VT-d, for whatever random reason. It's even more embarassing cuz this is the 2nd most powerful haswell processor after the 4790k which is just the same cpu but better binned so its base turbo goes from 3.9ghz to 4.4ghz, but once both cpus are overlocked the difference goes down from like 11% to 7% so basically this is almost the most powerful 4th gen cpu AND IT RANDOMLY HAS NO VT-D!!!!!!!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haswell_(microarchitecture) https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-4790K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4770K/2384vs1537 actually very annoying as according to this Can I install Qubes on a system without VT-x/AMD-V or VT-d/ADM-Vi/AMD IOMMU? Please see the system requirements for the latest information. If you are receiving an error message on install saying your “hardware lacks the features required to proceed”, check to make sure the virtualization options are enabled in your BIOS/UEFI configuration. You may be able to install without the required CPU features for testing purposes only, but VMs (in particular, sys-net) may not function correctly and there will be no security isolation. For more information, see Qubes-certified hardware. and this https://www.reddit.com/r/Qubes/comments/af3z0q/is_it_pointless_to_run_qubes_4x_on_non_vtd_cpu/ there is literally no point in installing qubes os as there will be no security isolation. Unless using the old outdates qubes 3. So much for that i guess... Well i was planning to upgrade anyway because the new Alder Lake from intel is coming in November with PCI 5 and DDR5 and amd new cpus and stuff is coming in 2022 so actually this is the best time to upgrade with PCI 5 and DDR5 and whatnot. But i will live without qubes os, for now. Just hope i won't break down crying in the corner of my room. Also, as far as i understand, the base qubes os (kernel or xen supervisor whatever) uses the integrated gpu and then i can give my dedicated gpu to a vm? Problem is I use at least 2 applications that require gpu acceleration if not 3, first being the browser (i don't want sluggish stuff), with which i watch youtube videos and what not, then is a game i could be playing then is discord either watching or streaming and ofc I want my 144hz will it work with that? Oh yeah it also feels nice to see the mouse in 144hz on the desktop BUT i can get over not having a desktop VM if i can get at least 2 applicatoins with gpu acceleration to work (browser + either game or discord or something else i am using) will it work? Oh yeah i also use teamviewer so need gpu acceleration for that too. I also record stuff etc. But if they have to be in the same VM then it kinda ruins the point no?
Oh wait, what games am i talking about, i completely forgot u cannot play games on qubes os xddddddd at least not smth that's not minesweeper lol So yeah nvm. Security is nice. But not at the cost of everything else... Besides my pc is secure enough as i said in the post before mod edited and removed all the important parts
Yes, unfortunately Intel has a way of not implementing VT-d and other features in a lot of their processors, also the higher end ones. Same goes for motherboards/bios that lack implementation or they do have it but it's buggy. If it all would be standard and properly implemented, hardware compatibility for Qubes would be much easier. There is, as stated in your link: "Nonetheless, all of Qubes’ other security mechanisms, such as qube separation, work without VT-d. Therefore, a system running Qubes will still be significantly more secure than one running Windows, Mac, or Linux, even if it lacks VT-d." You just miss the DMA protection for network and USB. But yeah using version 3 does kind of beat the point as it is unsupported. Keep in mind that Xen is not very fast in supporting the latest CPU generations, so using the latest and greatest may not be compatible. It looks like AMD Zen 3 works now though so I might be getting that. Yeah if you want to do that at the same time that will be an issue. Still, even if you put that in the same VM, you can still have all the rest i.e. email, banking, shopping, passwords, work, online accounts etc. separate in other VM's.
Hmm doesn't sound too bad. Except i use lastpass in my browser. Ehh I'll try it. When i upgrade next year.
Fedora 33 approaching EOL; Fedora 34 templates available https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2021/11/11/fedora-33-approaching-eol-fedora-34-templates-available/ New Qubes application menu https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2021/11/12/new-qubes-application-menu/
Qubes OS 4.1-rc2 has been released! November 17, 2021 https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2021/11/17/qubes-4-1-rc2/
Qubes Security Bulletin (QSB) 077 QSB-077: Multiple speculative security issues (XSA-398) March 10, 2022 XSAs released on 2022-03-08 March 10, 2022
Qubes Security Bulletin (QSB) 078 QSB-078: Linux kernel PV driver issues and LVM misconfiguration March 10, 2022 XSAs released on 2022-03-10 March 10, 2022
Now that Qubes Windows Tools for 4.1 are in the official testing repository[1], I did a clean install of 4.1, it's running faster than 4.0 The new Qubes Windows Tools are also working properly with Windows 10. Now more things can be done through the GUI, like downloading templates or changing AppVM's to a new TemplateVM in bulk, also a lot more settings can be changed in the GUI. [1] https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2022/04/10/windows-integration-by-tabit-pro/
Fedora 36 templates available https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2022/06/27/fedora-36-templates-available/ Qubes OS 4.0 reaches EOL on 2022-08-04 https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2022/07/04/qubes-os-4-0-eol-on-2022-08-04/
Qubes OS 4.1.2 has been released! https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2023/03/14/qubes-4-1-2/ Note: this is a little more special than a normal point release, since now the ISO includes an option to install with kernel-latest as well, in addition to the standard included kernel version. This may make installing Qubes on more recent hardware a lot easier. Fedora 37 templates available https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2023/03/03/fedora-37-templates-available/ The Dasharo FidelisGuard Z690 is the first Qubes-certified desktop computer! https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2023/03/15/dasharo-fidelisguard-z690-first-qubes-certified-desktop/
It already could, check working configurations on the Hardware Compatibility List. However, with it's hypervisor design Qubes is a lot more complex than a Linux distribution, and on top of that Linux support from Nvidia sucks, which means the chances of getting Qubes working on a machine with Nvidia are lower than with a GPU from another vendor.
The NovaCustom NV41 Series laptop is Qubes-certified! https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2023/05/03/novacustom-nv41-series-qubes-certified/
