I just purchased a MSI Bravo 15 AMD Ryzen 7 4800H 16GB 15.6" A4DDR-212IN laptop (Windows pre installed). I’m an average computer user and a Linux newbie. I only know the basics of computer tech. I don’t know CLI.
I was planning to totally wipe out Windows and install Fedora 34 with Gnome 40. No dual boot. But someone said I should use dual boot and keep Windows cuz I’ll need Windows to do firmware updates.
Is this true? Firmware updates can’t be done within Fedora 34?
If I really need to keep Windows and use dual boot, that’s not a problem. I want to erase Windows just to get the extra space.
This used to be generally true, but thanks to the awesome work of Richard Hughes, we have a thing called the Linux Vendor Firmware Service. If vendors upload new firmwares there, they can be easily updated within Fedora Linux. See this list of participating vendors — I see MSI is included, although I can’t be 100% sure that that laptop is covered.
It’s also usually the case that vendors provide an alternate way to update firmware, for example by booting with a special, dedicated bootable USB image.
The newer machines that I have used with UEFI bios seem to have an update tool built into the bios that, as has been said, can read from a usb and do the update.