{"id":167618,"date":"2026-05-18T06:23:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T03:23:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/?p=167618"},"modified":"2026-05-19T19:36:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T16:36:51","slug":"install-fedora-44-step-by-step-screenshots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/install-fedora-44-step-by-step-screenshots\/","title":{"rendered":"Install Fedora 44 Linux Step-by-Step with Screenshots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fedora Linux 44 shipped on April 28, 2026, bringing GNOME 50 to Workstation, KDE Plasma 6.6 with the new Plasma Login Manager, and a kernel 6.19 base. The Anaconda installer also picked up a behavior change worth knowing about: it now only creates NetworkManager profiles for devices you actually configure during install instead of generating defaults for every interface on the box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This guide walks through a Fedora 44 Workstation install end to end. We cover the ISO download, creating a bootable USB, the four-step Anaconda Web UI flow (Welcome, Installation method, Storage configuration, Review and install), and the GNOME 50 initial setup that runs on first boot. Every screenshot is from a real Fedora 44 Workstation install captured during testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Tested <strong>May 2026<\/strong> on Fedora Workstation 44 (kernel 6.19.14-300.fc44, GNOME 50, Anaconda 44 Web UI)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What&#8217;s new in Fedora 44<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fedora 44 keeps the six-month cadence and pulls in the latest desktop, kernel, and toolchain stack. The user-visible changes worth flagging before you install:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>GNOME 50<\/strong> on Workstation, with refinements to accessibility, color management, and remote desktop, plus updates to Document Viewer, Files, and Calendar.<\/li>\n<li><strong>KDE Plasma 6.6<\/strong> on the KDE Plasma Desktop edition, with the new Plasma Login Manager and Plasma Setup for a more cohesive first-boot flow.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Anaconda network profiles<\/strong> are now only created for devices configured during installation (via boot options, kickstart, or the UI). Previously every device on the system got a default profile.<\/li>\n<li><strong>MariaDB 11.8<\/strong> is the new unversioned default. Existing users on upgrades keep their pinned version; only fresh installs of the meta package get 11.8.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wine NTSYNC<\/strong>: the ntsync kernel module is compiled in-tree on kernel 7.0 (which arrives via dnf updates within weeks of the F44 install), and the Fedora repos ship Wine 11.0 with first-class NTSYNC support, so installing Wine on F44 gives you an ntsync-aware Wine out of the box.<\/li>\n<li><strong>OpenSSL ca-certificates<\/strong> now use directory-hash loading, cutting startup overhead on cert-heavy workloads.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fedora Cloud<\/strong> images use a Btrfs subvolume for <code>\/boot<\/code> instead of a separate partition, which improves space utilization on small disks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the full list see the official <a href=\"https:\/\/fedoramagazine.org\/announcing-fedora-linux-44\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fedora 44 release announcement<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.fedoraproject.org\/en-US\/fedora\/latest\/release-notes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">release notes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fedora 44 Editions, Spins, and Atomic Desktops<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fedora 44 ships in three families. Pick the one that matches the box you&#8217;re installing on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Editions<\/strong>: Workstation, KDE Plasma Desktop, Server, Cloud, CoreOS, IoT. These are the flagship images.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Atomic Desktops<\/strong>: Silverblue, Kinoite, Cosmic Atomic, Budgie Atomic, Sway Atomic. Image-based, rpm-ostree managed, ideal for kiosks and developer workstations that want rollback.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Spins<\/strong>: Cinnamon, Xfce, Sway, MATE, LXQt, and others. Community-maintained desktop variants on the same Fedora base.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This guide installs <strong>Fedora 44 Workstation<\/strong> (the GNOME flavor). The Anaconda Web UI flow is identical for KDE Plasma Desktop and the spins; only the desktop you boot into at the end differs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hardware requirements<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fedora Workstation 44 is comfortable on modern hardware. For a smooth GNOME 50 experience plan for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>CPU<\/strong>: 64-bit x86 (x86_64-v2 baseline; older CPUs without SSE4.2 will refuse to boot), 2 cores minimum, 4+ recommended<\/li>\n<li><strong>RAM<\/strong>: 2 GB minimum, 4 GB recommended for the live installer, 8 GB+ for daily desktop use<\/li>\n<li><strong>Disk<\/strong>: 20 GB minimum, 30 GB+ recommended (Anaconda carves a 629 MB EFI partition, around 2 GB ext4 <code>\/boot<\/code>, then Btrfs with subvolumes for <code>\/<\/code> and <code>\/home<\/code> on the rest)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Network<\/strong>: not required for install (Live ISO is self-contained), but updates after first boot pull around 500 MB<\/li>\n<li><strong>Architecture<\/strong>: also available for aarch64, ppc64le, and s390x; this guide uses x86_64<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 1: Download the Fedora 44 ISO<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grab the Workstation Live ISO from the official Fedora download page. The Live ISO doubles as a try-before-you-install environment and the installer for permanent installs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code code\"><code>wget https:\/\/download.fedoraproject.org\/pub\/fedora\/linux\/releases\/44\/Workstation\/x86_64\/iso\/Fedora-Workstation-Live-44-1.7.x86_64.iso<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you&#8217;re picking a different edition or architecture, the <a href=\"https:\/\/fedoraproject.org\/workstation\/download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fedora download page<\/a> lists every flavor with mirror links. The Workstation ISO is roughly 2.85 GB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verify the download against the published checksums so you&#8217;re not booting tampered media:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code code\"><code>wget https:\/\/fedoraproject.org\/fedora.gpg\ngpg --import fedora.gpg\nwget https:\/\/download.fedoraproject.org\/pub\/fedora\/linux\/releases\/44\/Workstation\/x86_64\/iso\/Fedora-Workstation-44-1.7-x86_64-CHECKSUM\ngpg --verify-files Fedora-Workstation-44-1.7-x86_64-CHECKSUM\nsha256sum -c Fedora-Workstation-44-1.7-x86_64-CHECKSUM 2>&1 | grep OK<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 2: Create a bootable USB<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The simplest path is the official Fedora Media Writer, which writes the ISO and verifies it in one shot. It&#8217;s available for Linux, macOS, and Windows from the <a href=\"https:\/\/fedoraproject.org\/workstation\/download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">downloads page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you prefer the command line on Linux, use <code>dd<\/code>. First identify your USB device with <code>lsblk<\/code> (use the disk node, not a partition):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code code\"><code>lsblk -d -o NAME,SIZE,TYPE,MODEL<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then write the ISO. Double-check the target device; <code>dd<\/code> won&#8217;t ask twice:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code code\"><code>export USB_DEV=\"\/dev\/sdX\"\nsudo dd if=Fedora-Workstation-Live-44-1.7.x86_64.iso of=${USB_DEV} bs=4M status=progress oflag=direct conv=fsync<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On macOS use <code>diskutil list<\/code> to identify the USB, then <code>diskutil unmountDisk \/dev\/diskN<\/code> followed by <code>sudo dd if=... of=\/dev\/rdiskN bs=4m<\/code> (note the <code>rdisk<\/code> for raw device speed). On Windows, Rufus or balenaEtcher in DD mode both work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 3: Boot the installer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Plug the USB into the target machine and boot from it. The boot key varies by vendor: F12 on most Lenovo and Dell, F9 on HP, F11 on MSI, Esc or F2 on older systems. On UEFI systems you may also need to disable Secure Boot first, though Fedora is signed and should work with Secure Boot enabled on most hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Fedora 44 GRUB menu offers three options:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Start Fedora-Workstation-Live<\/strong> &#8211; boot the live environment straight away<\/li>\n<li><strong>Test this media &amp; start Fedora-Workstation-Live<\/strong> &#8211; verify the USB before booting, useful on a freshly-written stick (this is the default selection)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Troubleshooting<\/strong> &#8211; basic graphics mode and rescue options<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a brand-new USB, leave the media test default selected. For a known-good USB, press Up and select <strong>Start Fedora-Workstation-Live<\/strong> to skip the verification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-grub-boot-menu.png\" alt=\"Fedora 44 GRUB boot menu with three options\" class=\"wp-image-167607\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-grub-boot-menu.png 1280w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-grub-boot-menu-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-grub-boot-menu-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-grub-boot-menu-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The live session boots into a GNOME 50 desktop with a welcome dialog asking whether you want to <strong>Install Fedora Linux&#8230;<\/strong> or <strong>Not Now<\/strong>. Click <strong>Install Fedora Linux&#8230;<\/strong> to launch Anaconda. If you dismissed the dialog, you can also launch it later by pressing the Super key and typing &#8220;Install&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-live-welcome-dialog.png\" alt=\"Fedora Linux 44 Live ISO welcome dialog on GNOME 50\" class=\"wp-image-167608\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-live-welcome-dialog.png 1280w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-live-welcome-dialog-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-live-welcome-dialog-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-live-welcome-dialog-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 4: Anaconda Web UI walkthrough<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fedora 44 ships the Anaconda Web UI, the wizard-based installer that replaced the old hub-and-spoke design. The flow is now four linear steps shown in the sidebar: <strong>Welcome<\/strong>, <strong>Installation method<\/strong>, <strong>Storage configuration<\/strong>, and <strong>Review and install<\/strong>. User accounts are no longer created here; that moved to the GNOME initial setup wizard that runs on first boot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Welcome: pick a language and keyboard<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first screen asks for the install language and keyboard layout. The language you pick here becomes the system language after install. Click the language dropdown, type to filter, and pick your language. The keyboard layout defaults to <code>us<\/code>; click <strong>Change system keyboard layout<\/strong> to pick a different one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-language-english.png\" alt=\"Fedora 44 Anaconda language picker with English United States selected\" class=\"wp-image-167610\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-language-english.png 1280w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-language-english-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-language-english-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-language-english-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Click <strong>Next<\/strong> when done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Installation method: pick the target disk<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anaconda lists the detected disks under <strong>Destination<\/strong>. The default is the first detected disk; click <strong>Change destination<\/strong> if you have multiple disks and want to install onto a different one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under <strong>How would you like to install?<\/strong> the default is <strong>Use entire disk<\/strong>, which wipes the selected disk and creates the Fedora layout from scratch. This is what you want for a clean install on a dedicated box. For dual-boot or to keep an existing <code>\/home<\/code>, choose <strong>Mount point assignment<\/strong> from the same screen (collapsed by default).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-installation-method.png\" alt=\"Fedora 44 Anaconda Installation method screen with destination disk\" class=\"wp-image-167611\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-installation-method.png 1280w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-installation-method-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-installation-method-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-installation-method-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Storage configuration: optional encryption<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The storage step in Fedora 44 is short: a single <strong>Encrypt my data<\/strong> checkbox. Tick it to enable LUKS full-disk encryption (everything below <code>\/boot\/efi<\/code> and <code>\/boot<\/code> gets encrypted) and Anaconda will prompt for a passphrase later. Leave it unticked for an unencrypted install.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-storage-encryption.png\" alt=\"Fedora 44 Anaconda Storage configuration with LUKS encryption checkbox\" class=\"wp-image-167612\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-storage-encryption.png 1280w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-storage-encryption-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-storage-encryption-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-storage-encryption-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The partition layout itself isn&#8217;t picked here; Anaconda derives it from the disk size and the install method. For a typical 32 GB disk on the <strong>Use entire disk<\/strong> path, you&#8217;ll get:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><code>sda1<\/code> &#8211; 629 MB EFI System Partition, formatted FAT, mounted at <code>\/boot\/efi<\/code><\/li>\n<li><code>sda2<\/code> &#8211; 2.15 GB ext4, mounted at <code>\/boot<\/code><\/li>\n<li><code>sda3<\/code> &#8211; the rest, formatted Btrfs, with two subvolumes mounted at <code>\/<\/code> and <code>\/home<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Review and install: confirm and commit<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The final step summarizes everything Anaconda is about to do: operating system, language, installation type, target disk, and the partition layout broken down by mount point. Take a look, especially the storage section, because the next click formats the disk and there&#8217;s no undo from this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-review-install.png\" alt=\"Fedora 44 Anaconda Review and install with Btrfs partition layout\" class=\"wp-image-167613\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-review-install.png 1280w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-review-install-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-review-install-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-review-install-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When you&#8217;re ready, click <strong>Erase data and install<\/strong>. Anaconda then runs through four phases:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Storage configuration<\/strong> &#8211; partition and format the disk<\/li>\n<li><strong>Software installation<\/strong> &#8211; copy the Fedora root filesystem and install packages<\/li>\n<li><strong>System configuration<\/strong> &#8211; bootloader, fstab, initramfs, SELinux contexts<\/li>\n<li><strong>Finalization<\/strong> &#8211; cleanup, post-install hooks<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-install-progress.png\" alt=\"Fedora 44 Anaconda installation progress phases\" class=\"wp-image-167614\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-install-progress.png 1280w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-install-progress-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-install-progress-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-install-progress-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a modern SSD this takes 4-8 minutes. On a USB target or spinning disk plan for 15-20 minutes. When done you&#8217;ll see a <strong>Successfully installed<\/strong> screen with an <strong>Exit to live desktop<\/strong> button. Click it to return to the live session, then shut down from the GNOME top-right menu and pull the USB before the firmware hands off to the disk so the next boot loads the installed Fedora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-install-complete.png\" alt=\"Fedora 44 Anaconda Successfully installed screen\" class=\"wp-image-167615\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-install-complete.png 1280w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-install-complete-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-install-complete-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-anaconda-install-complete-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 5: First boot &#8211; GNOME Initial Setup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After the first reboot the installed Fedora 44 runs <strong>GNOME Initial Setup<\/strong>, the wizard that creates your user account and walks through privacy and online accounts. Anaconda no longer asks for any of this on F44; it all happens here on first boot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-gnome-initial-setup-welcome.png\" alt=\"Fedora 44 GNOME Initial Setup welcome screen on first boot\" class=\"wp-image-167616\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-gnome-initial-setup-welcome.png 1280w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-gnome-initial-setup-welcome-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-gnome-initial-setup-welcome-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wm-fedora-44-gnome-initial-setup-welcome-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Click <strong>Start Setup<\/strong> and Initial Setup walks through these screens:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Privacy<\/strong> &#8211; location services and automatic problem reporting toggles<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wellbeing<\/strong> &#8211; the new GNOME 50 screen-time tracker, opt-in<\/li>\n<li><strong>Third-party repositories<\/strong> &#8211; opt-in to enable repos that ship proprietary bits (NVIDIA, Chrome, Steam)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Online accounts<\/strong> &#8211; Google, Microsoft 365, Nextcloud, Fedora Account; skip if you don&#8217;t need them<\/li>\n<li><strong>About you<\/strong> &#8211; full name and username<\/li>\n<li><strong>Password<\/strong> &#8211; account password and confirmation; Fedora 44 enforces a strong password policy by default<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once you land at the GNOME 50 desktop, confirm the install by checking the version markers in a terminal:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code code\"><code>cat \/etc\/fedora-release\nuname -r\ngnome-shell --version<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You should see Fedora 44, kernel 6.19.14-300.fc44 (or newer once dnf updates run), and GNOME Shell 50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pull in any post-release updates and reboot if a new kernel landed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code code\"><code>sudo dnf upgrade --refresh -y\n[ -f \/var\/run\/reboot-required ] && sudo systemctl reboot<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From here Fedora 44 is a daily-driver Workstation. If you want media codecs and proprietary drivers, the next step is enabling RPM Fusion. Note that early Fedora 44 had a known RPM Fusion repo-detection quirk where the rawhide repo got picked up instead of the F44 one; the workaround is to install the F44 release packages directly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code code\"><code>sudo dnf install \\\n  https:\/\/mirrors.rpmfusion.org\/free\/fedora\/rpmfusion-free-release-44.noarch.rpm \\\n  https:\/\/mirrors.rpmfusion.org\/nonfree\/fedora\/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-44.noarch.rpm<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fedora 44 receives security updates and bug fixes until roughly one month after Fedora 46 ships (typical 13-month lifecycle). For long-running production workloads consider Fedora CoreOS or RHEL\/Rocky\/Alma. For a daily driver desktop, this is the best Fedora yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Step-by-step Fedora 44 Workstation install with real screenshots: download ISO, boot the Anaconda Web UI, partition Btrfs, and finish in GNOME 50.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":167617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,299,47,50],"tags":[681,282],"cfg_series":[39847],"class_list":["post-167618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fedora","category-how-to","category-linux","category-linux-tutorials","tag-fedora","tag-linux","cfg_series-fedora-44-workstation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167618"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167717,"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167618\/revisions\/167717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167618"},{"taxonomy":"cfg_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cfg_series?post=167618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}