The current version is clearly better than the old one, that's for sure.
Since you are receptive to feedback, I will give my marketer/PR-professional's opinion that hopefully you put in use.
I recommend checking out the "Don't make me think twice. A common sense approach to web usability" book by Steve Krug. It's an old book, but most of the advice is common sense and still applies. I especially want to point out the "Chapter 7. The Big Bang Theory of Web Design".
The basic idea is that:
1. the information you want to tell visitors has priority. You should make a list of all (everything, not only the things that are currently visible) the things you would want to communicate to visitors and rate it ("Linux" before "gaming" before "smoother, simpler" before "next generation", etc).
2. The home page is the most important page. The visible first-view of the home page is the most real estate.
3. The home page and first-view content should be organized according to the priority list. The longer the visitor stays on the page, the more of the more important stuff he should see. The progression should be logical; the 10th item should not come before item-5. All the important things should be read in 5s and the rest of the important things should optimally be read without scrolling at all.
The organization of your website is currently extremely suboptimal. The first view of the main page has hardly any information, even on 1440p screen. The problem lies in both:
1. amount of total information. So much wasted space, instead of engaging/revealing text and compelling/informative images.
2. the importance/uselessness of such information. E.g. "for the next generation of" - what does it even mean? What purpose does it serve? Why is it there? Couldn't valuable space be used better? For sure it can.
You don't need to scroll at all in order to see what the page is about and what are the distros' USP (Unique Selling Proposition).
- "Linux Mint 22.2. The latest version of the friendly operating system is here. Linux Mint is an operating system for desktop and laptop computers. It is designed to work 'out of the box' and comes fully equipped with the apps most people need."
- "Omarchy. Beautiful, Modern & Opinionated Linux by DHH"
- "Tails is a portable operating system that protects against surveillance and censorship."
- "ParrotSec. The ultimate framework for your Cyber Security operations."
- "Manjaro Linux Empowering People and Organizations. Taking the raw power and flexibility of Arch Linux and making it more accessible for a greater audience."
Not all the first-views of distro pages are as good as they could be, but they are way above what Bazzite displays. To be clear: the content of the main page as a whole is fine, it gives the necessary information and is quite well organized. It is only the first-view side is what I have problems with; it is not worthy of the rest of the page.
Before you respond, also check the "The Top Four Plausible Excuses for not Spelling Out the Big Picture on the Home Page" in the same Chapter7. :-)
It does not matter what you want to call Bazzite. It only matters what words people (your visitors, your potential "clients") know and have associations with. I haven't seen you complain when you are featured in the "Best Linux distros for gamers" lists. :-) And that's how it should be. Don't fight the society, go with the current.
Communication is about clear positioning through clarity, not about muddling through obfuscation.
Your website has a good core (base under the first-view), but the first-view needs A LOT of work. Just a little effort would go a long way. Let me try to make quick changes to the first-view:
1. Add tag line at the top. Part of the logo, instead of "Become a Supporter" (this is not a correct place to ask for that)?. If not in logo, then separately to the right/bottom of it. What kind of tag line? E.g. "Gaming in Linux? Easy-Bazzizy!". Sounds corny, but it works. Honestly! This is something I came up with in under 1 minute, but even this is better than not having anything.
2. Make site og title/description something useful/searchable/identifiable.
3. Get rid of "load/show/animate pics only after scrolling". This is highly irritating for people who want to quickly find out about Bazzite.
4. Change "The operating system for the next generation of gamers" to "The operating system for X gamers". X stands for 1 or even better 3 (3 word rule) words like: serious, no-nonsense, busy, dedicated, passionate.
5. Change "Bazzite makes gaming and everyday use smoother and simpler across desktop PCs, handhelds, tablets, and home theater PCs." to "Linux distribution made safe, easy and efficient. Focus on games and gamers. On desktop PCs, handhelds, tablets, and home theater PCs."
6. On the right make list of main USP ("Play your favorite games", "Take your game library anywhere", "Upgrade and rollback fearlessly", "Secure by default", "Hardware compatibility out of the box", "Supporting Handheld PC and couch gaming setups", "Run your favorite containers") with headers that jump to appropriate parts of the main page.
7. Make a list of usual complaints/opinions of OS switchers, so visitors could associate and see themselves switching. In form of questions: "Are you tired of watching ads in your OS?", "Do you enjoy all the AI Microsoft is trying to push down your throat?", "Want an Operating System working for you, instead of against you?", "Tired of unnecessary hassle and slowness of OS and simply want to live and play?", "Don't want to be a slave anymore?", "Desire to be treated as an adult instead of a child?", "Make play, not fray?", "Linux-curious, but afraid?", "Want an easy and safe way to play on Linux?". You can come up with a lot of stuff that resonates with visitors, who are thinking of switching OSs (imo you should mainly target switchers from Mac/Win instead of linux distro hoppers). These questions can be rotating, adding animation/liveness to the first-view. Make clickable to take to Testimonials.
8. Add some small images/screenshots as well.
One can always argue with the specific details, but I think I managed to demonstrate the overall point of these changes making the website and the experience of visitors much better.
I hope you will put my friendly feedback to use. Best wishes.
It said Linux before but apparently that wasn't clear that it's an operating system, less is more sometimes.