I just finished installing Fedora 44, using Anaconda for the first time. At the end, there was a QR code asking for a review the installer process, so I hope this is the right place to post!
Having used Calamares mostly in the last couple years, I was a bit surprised at how few steps it took to get the OS installed to the internal drive. After installation was complete, I restarted the laptop and it booted into new system without any issues. The Anaconda setup continued with account creation and some options.
I really like this approach to splitting the install process into two parts. It vastly simplifies the most essential steps: installing the OS and bootloader. It took less than two minutes to boot the live OS and begin the installation on a decade-old laptop. Very impressive, and the process is even easier than installing MS Win 7/8/10/11 (which I have done about 10,000 times in my line of work).
Post install setup was super easy too. Unlike Calamares, Anaconda remembered the WiFi connection from the live OS/1st stage, so I didn’t have to type in a long password twice. Much appreciated! The UI is clean, elegant, and very responsive. There is just enough info presented to the user to complete the installation, without overwhelming you with too much information.
The only criticism I have is that there is no dark mode option (decades of staring at monitors has made my eyes sensitive to blue light). But, I sped through the install steps so fast that it hardly mattered.
I look forward to seeing Anaconda adopted by other distributions as I think it’s a great first impression for anyone new to Linux.
Test System used: Thinkpad T460 w/ 6th-gen Intel CPU, BIOS set to UEFI-only mode, a 1TB SATA SSD initialed with GPT, and 16GB RAM.
OS w/ Anaconda: Ultramarine Linux 44 Budgie Edition