main reason for me is
arch documentation + manjaro community
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This!
ā¦ & Multiple kernels.
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I wanted to use Arch, but did not want have the free bandwidth at the time to install it. (old laptop was goners and I needed a new one ASAP) Manjaro seemed like a good compromise.
The arch forums can be a very intimidating place and at times very unforgiving to the less experienced users. Itās very rare for you to be flamed on manjaro and youāll definitely receive more help than on arch. Thatās enough reason in itself to use manjaro over arch. I was long time mint user but much prefer the arch package management and rolling release. Iām pretty sure I could do a standard arch install but Iām still very much learning and manjaro is a safer place to ask for help when needed
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Well really āvery good compromises for most usersā is more accurate.
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U can answer urself by using Manjaro.
Also the Manjaro Community is GREAT, the Manjaro Forum is GREAT
Easy to install (Architect is perfect for myself as is rather bloat free) while i also got easy access to full fledged beginer friendly KDE/XFCE editions to install for people that want to get into linux and several LTS kernels generally ensure a hassle free experience.
MHWD&and simplified chrooting from a live USB/DVD makes life soo much easier when dealing with kernel&driver issuesā¦
As for extra reasons on why chose smth arch based:
Pacman as far as iām concerned seems to be one of the few sane package managers and the fact that it can draw packages from centralized repos is another advantageā¦ comparing this to smth like ubuntus gazilion PPAās or abuse of flats&snaps in an constant struggle to keep itself up to date&relevant isnāt even funny.
Ability to go as bleeding edge as I want to keep up with my daily needs and hobbies.
Well explained and detailed documentation to help yourself with just about anything you may need.
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Sure, lots of those on Arch 
Thereās a question - when your Arch install goes tits up, can you boot a live USB to chroot and fix it?
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Yes, arch has arch-chroot.
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Well of course, if you are providing binaries they need to work as provided for all users running any hardware they are specified for. Not possible without compromises.
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Umm why wouldnāt I ? either via arch-chroot or the manjaro way doing manjaro-chroot -a (assuming u got a standard manjaro install without special partitions for just about anything under the sun)ā¦
As for ubuntuās gazilion of PPAās/flats&snapsā¦ that is simply the harsh truth, at least if u want to stay up to date with yr stuffā¦but hey its ubuntu so its approach to updating is about as far from sanity as it gets in the linux world.
So yeah comparing that migraine&risk of borking yr install to the hassle free nature of smth like manjaro stable is simply too funny. Lets be honest for a second here and say it: the only ways to bork yr stable manjaro branch is by using the AUR without having a clear idea of what you are doing OR some driver issue pops up(its usually nvidia&broadcom users that get boned most often)
As for my own personal experience manjaro nailed me only 3times in more then 5years of use:twice it was the nvidia driver(charooting and installing another quickly solved it both times) and at one point found myself without internet access after an update that removed the PPoE component(rp-ppoe it was back then if i properly recall it) for the network manager(lol used the downgrade tool to reinstall it from my local pacman cache).
On the other hand my 2years of ubuntu usage prior to switching have been nothing more then a bug riddled experience(no booting after the periodic 6month update cycle 3times out 4, sound card issues, nvidea drivers hissy fits, screen tearing, random usb peripherals not usable after boot(usually the keyboard or mouse) and i recall needing about 30 diferent PPAs to provide for all i needed(shoot me iām a gamer&also have the habit to run several VM-ed OSes)
To each hes own i guessā¦but I would only consider 3 worthwhile distros currently: Manjaro(architect for myself and more experienced users and the fully decked official releases for beginners/intermediate users) MX-Linux(the amount of user friendly GUI tools to fix any issue u may have is simply mind boggling its perfect for just about everyone that doesnāt crave the latest advancements in kernels&drivers) and there is also linux mint(perfect for grandma/pa that only do Ytoube&Fbook and have no desire/interest to learn anything and are happy with anything u put in front of them as long as it ādoesnāt stop working like it used toā)
PS:sry about the long rantā¦
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Great question: Iām not a developer nor do I work in a technical field. I used to do IT but that was years ago. I fiddled with Arch, and remember using fdisk years ago, but I need a car to drive to work, not a race car where I can adjust the fuel flow.
Why Manjaro - having tried other rolling releases Iāve found it is the best without having to do Arch, especially now that antergos has closed and Manjaro has really matured. Why go with a rolling release if I donāt need it? I guess I just like having the latest greatest - probably just weakness and FOMO. Iām sure Ubuntu or Fedora would work fine with me but backports and all the rest, ppa, etc. Manjaro is actually much simpler in that regard thanks in no small part to pamac, though the AUR does sometimes have itās own challenges.
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Antergos (long defunct), like Endeavour, like Archlabs (which I used to install my system)
basically are just Arch installers that come lightly pre-configured and make the install process of basically pure Arch easier.
The archlabs installer is a joy to use - much better than ā¦ Manjaro Architekt
but:
one installs Arch with a few extras
the other one installs any Manjaro flavour you want
Isnāt Archlabs installer a graphics installer? You should compare it to a graphical installer from Manjaro Live edition which is still āCalamaresā ?
Edit: I stand corrected 
No, it isnāt.
I used to use Arch when I had plenty of time to tinker and tweak. Now my time is limited and Manjaro gives me a quick platform in which I can still take a peak (AUR).
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I have never used Arch, but I used antergos for a while a couple of years ago. To my understanding itā was pretty close to Arch with a simpler GUI installer. I liked Antergos but it got broken very soon after I skipped a few updates.
I have only been using Manjaro for a month so my experience is limited. But I can say that with the two weeks delay and quality check of updates Iām more confident that my system wonāt break. Not that itās not possible for it to happen but at least it gives me peace of mind while it lasts.
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I never used Arch eitherā¦ and donāt think I either will. Manjaro is solid, eye-candy, appealing for both beginners and geeks IMHO.
I changed my career path just before the pandemic, after years of Windows Server and Citrix administration. I guess I was bored not doing computer engineering anymore and I (re)discovered Linux. After some time with Linux Mint and Ubuntu Budgie, my distro hopping stopped with Manjaro.
Compared to Windows, Mint and Ubuntu Budgie were quicker on my 2011 laptop, but Manjaroā¦ Smoother than ever. Pacman is blazing fast compared to apt. The whole interface, the applications listā¦ All was thought out. I love also the interface, guess I learned to love the green with Mint.
I tried Endeavour OS to see, what would like closer to Arch, didnāt really liked it. Purple theming aside, there is a minimal amount of applications but one has to build it oneself. And when you donāt know really which environment youād like to buildā¦ Moreover Pamac (even it could work from the AUR on non-Manjaro Arch systems) is a real plus, and @guinux is French ( 
yay!)
Soon after my Manjaro adoption, I switched to Testing, then Unstable. I could go pure Arch if I tried (and wanted to configure manually all that Manjaro does automaticallyā¦), I just donāt feel the need. I have enough to tinker and discover, I donāt see Manjaro as Arch Linux Mint or Arch for dummies.
There are still new things to learn. I donāt have the feeling that Iāve seen all and that Manjaro bores me. I learn new things all the time. Last year, to change my partition table from MBR to GPT. Some months ago, to use Architect. And two days ago, I discovered than my 2011 BIOS Dell could boot in UEFI! I tried and miserably failed with systemd-boot, I get now a brand new Architected KDE powered by Refind. Next step, know how to theme itā¦
I love Linux, want to know more and I found home with Manjaro for that.
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Iām new to Linux and only got into it early of this month. I heard about Linux for many years but was kind of intimidated by it and didnāt know which distro to start with. I have watched videos of recommendations, but nothing beats exploring and trying it out for yourself. I started out with Windows (for a decade), then macOS for another decade. And now that I got a taste of Linux, Iām not going back. From here on itās Linux for life.
From my experience, the best way to find out is to try them all! Donāt go by what someone says. I downloaded:
- Debian
- elementaryOS
- Pop!_OS (didnāt bother with Ubuntu since Pop! is based on it)
- Fedora 33
- Kali
- Mint
- Manjaro
And it was down to Pop! or Manjaro, and I went with Manjaro. I heard about Arch, but in this day and age, I just want to get stuff done. Think Assembly vs C++. If you have times to waste and want to be cool, go with Assembly. If you want to get things done, go with C++ or Qt or whatever.
For some people, their distro becomes their idol. For others, like myself, weāre just looking for a distro that is good, flexible and doesnāt force us to do most things via a Terminal (thatās just my impression of Arch based on hearsay). Manjaro gives me that flexibility. Iām not going to waste time trying to be cool and do everything manually 
Life is short, and I want to get stuff done.
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I donāt think Iām really cool for using arch. Arch allows you to manage what you want (ignoring some stuff like systemd but you can go artix then). Manjaro comes pre-installed with stuff. I donāt see configuring my system as a waste of time but more like a weird hobby.
Only people are cool for their use of OS in my opinion are source based distro users, BSD based users and use of other OS like templeos unironically and haiku.
Arch is very flexible and works easily and doesnāt break if you donāt do brain dead things like I do sometimes. Just male sure to manage package sprawl like you would on any OS.
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