Manjaro is based on another distribution called Arch Linux. As such, it is also able to draw software packages from the community-maintained Arch User Repository (AUR). However, please note that Manjaro is not Arch, and any enquiries about the Manjaro operating system should be directed towards the Manjaro forums and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels alone.

For example, although Ubuntu is derived from Debian - and therefore shares some similarities with its parent - there are still substantial differences between these operating systems and how they work. Such is the case with Manjaro, which is far from just being an “easy to install” or “pre-configured” Arch operating system.

Here are some of the key differences between the Manjaro and Arch operating systems:

• Manjaro is developed independently from Arch, and by a completely different team.
• Manjaro is designed to be accessible to newcomers, while Arch is aimed at experienced users.
• Manjaro draws software from its own independent repositories. These repositories also contain software packages not provided by Arch.
• Manjaro provides its own distribution-specific tools such as the Manjaro Hardware Detection (MHWD) utility, and the Manjaro Settings Manager (MSM).
• Manjaro has numerous subtle differences in how it works when compared to Arch.

To reiterate, although Manjaro is indeed an Arch-derivative, it is not Arch!