# Difference between generic and intel

**URL:** <https://forums.balena.io/t/difference-between-generic-and-intel/369009>\
**Category:** balenaOS\
**Created:** [September 27, 2023, 7:33am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/difference-between-generic-and-intel/369009 "2023-09-27T07:33:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mamoen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/mamoen/32/3641_2.png) [@mamoen](https://forums.balena.io/u/mamoen)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 7:33am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/difference-between-generic-and-intel/369009/1 "2023-09-27T07:33:01Z")

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Hi,

I’m trying to understand what the difference between the balena-intel and balena-generic is, the intel one seems to be based of the generic except it’s lagging behind on the kernel version.

Any reason there is a balena-intel version?

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**Author:** ![mpous](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/mpous/32/4742_2.png) [@mpous](https://forums.balena.io/u/mpous)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 9:12am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/difference-between-generic-and-intel/369009/2 "2023-09-27T09:12:47Z")

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Hello @mamoen great question!

The x86\_64 bits machines you see on the [balena.io/os](http://balena.io/os) page are device types we support for balenaOS. The `Intel NUC` will have drivers related to that specific device. The `Generic x86_64` supports a wider variant of drivers and would be more compatible to other x86 devices.

Please let us know the specification of the machines you are trying to connect to balena and what you try so we can help you more.

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**Author:** ![alexgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ab992/32.png) [@alexgg](https://forums.balena.io/u/alexgg)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2023, 6:18pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/difference-between-generic-and-intel/369009/3 "2023-10-03T18:18:45Z")

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Hi Martin, please check the answer in [FAQs - Balena Documentation](https://docs.balena.io/faq/troubleshooting/faq/#what-is-the-difference-between-the-intel-nuc-and-the-generic-x86_64-images). Basically, the `Generic x86_64 (GPT)` image would be the recommended image for modern x86\_64 devices including the Intel NUC.

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**Author:** ![the-real-kenna](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/the-real-kenna/32/9598_2.png) [@the-real-kenna](https://forums.balena.io/u/the-real-kenna)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 12:11am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/difference-between-generic-and-intel/369009/5 "2023-10-05T00:11:38Z")

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To close the loop in this thread, the question about versioning was answered in a separate Forums thread: [Balena OS upgrade stuck on old kernel](https://forums.balena.io/t/369008)