Nobara Linux recognized my speakers/mic. OpenSuse did not.
This wasn’t a problem because I had a Bluetooth headset that had speakers/Mic and my projector had speakers as well. I read about this and sound is sometimes a problem with Linux, and I’m sure there is a solution. I didn’t need to investigate it. I probably should have, since if my headphone/built-in mic broke I would be forced to use my secondary computer.
It was a pleasure to see that the built-in mic/speakers were working when this was installed. Now this is the first Linux that ever 100% recognized all of my hardware. I am impressed with their attention to detail.
Is there a downside with Nobara Linux? It seems to have fewer installed apps than OpenSuse. That is probably a difficult balance between choosing enough for users to have what they need, and picking too much and making the installation longer and more complex. I think for the average user they did fine. I must admit however that I miss the YAST functionality that OpenSuse had. I think it was neat with the YAST Control Center and you could do so much in one place. Yes, the UI was a little dated, but functionality it worked.
I am not switching distros and I love OpenSuse. I will dual boot on this system and I will resize this partition and reinstall OpenSuse Tumbleweed. I am still more of a system administrator than a gamer, and although I found a gaming solution that works for me, it doesn’t mean that I will live full-time in it.
But it is always nice to have options and have the best tools for the job.