diff --git a/pkg/minikube/registry/drvs/podman/podman.go b/pkg/minikube/registry/drvs/podman/podman.go
index 79815c0d2e..dd54e998d8 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/registry/drvs/podman/podman.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/registry/drvs/podman/podman.go
@@ -42,12 +42,18 @@ import (
 var minReqPodmanVer = semver.Version{Major: 1, Minor: 7, Patch: 0}
 
 func init() {
+	priority := registry.Experimental
+	// Staged rollout for default:
+	// - Linux
+	// - macOS (podman-remote)
+	// - Windows (podman-remote)
+
 	if err := registry.Register(registry.DriverDef{
 		Name:     driver.Podman,
 		Config:   configure,
 		Init:     func() drivers.Driver { return kic.NewDriver(kic.Config{OCIPrefix: oci.Sudo, OCIBinary: oci.Podman}) },
 		Status:   status,
-		Priority: registry.Experimental,
+		Priority: priority,
 	}); err != nil {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("register failed: %v", err))
 	}
@@ -56,14 +62,16 @@ func init() {
 func configure(cc config.ClusterConfig, n config.Node) (interface{}, error) {
 	baseImage := viper.GetString("base-image")
 	return kic.NewDriver(kic.Config{
-		MachineName:   driver.MachineName(cc, n),
-		StorePath:     localpath.MiniPath(),
-		ImageDigest:   strings.Split(baseImage, "@")[0], // for podman does not support docker images references with both a tag and digest.
-		CPU:           cc.CPUs,
-		Memory:        cc.Memory,
-		OCIPrefix:     oci.Sudo,
-		OCIBinary:     oci.Podman,
-		APIServerPort: cc.Nodes[0].Port,
+		MachineName:       driver.MachineName(cc, n),
+		StorePath:         localpath.MiniPath(),
+		ImageDigest:       strings.Split(baseImage, "@")[0], // for podman does not support docker images references with both a tag and digest.
+		CPU:               cc.CPUs,
+		Memory:            cc.Memory,
+		OCIPrefix:         oci.Sudo,
+		OCIBinary:         oci.Podman,
+		APIServerPort:     cc.Nodes[0].Port,
+		KubernetesVersion: cc.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion,
+		ContainerRuntime:  cc.KubernetesConfig.ContainerRuntime,
 	}), nil
 }
 
@@ -74,58 +82,59 @@ func status() registry.State {
 		return registry.State{Error: err, Installed: false, Healthy: false, Fix: "Install Podman", Doc: docURL}
 	}
 
-	// Allow no more than 2 seconds for version command
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 2*time.Second)
-	defer cancel()
-
-	cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, oci.Podman, "version", "-f", "{{.Version}}")
-	o, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
-	output := string(o)
-	if err != nil {
-		glog.Warningf("podman version returned %s", output)
-		return registry.State{Error: err, Installed: true, Healthy: false, Fix: "Cant verify mininim required version for podman . See podman website for installation guide.", Doc: "https://podman.io/getting-started/installation.html"}
-	}
-
-	v, err := semver.Make(output)
-	if err != nil {
-		return registry.State{Error: err, Installed: true, Healthy: false, Fix: "Cant verify mininim required version for podman . See podman website for installation guide.", Doc: "https://podman.io/getting-started/installation.html"}
-	}
-
-	if v.LT(minReqPodmanVer) {
-		glog.Warningf("Warning ! mininim required version for podman is %s. your version is %q. minikube might not work. use at your own risk. To install latest version please see https://podman.io/getting-started/installation.html ", minReqPodmanVer.String(), v.String())
-	}
-
-	// Allow no more than 3 seconds for querying state
-	ctx, cancel = context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 3*time.Second)
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 6*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
 
+	// Quickly returns an error code if service is not running
+	cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, oci.Podman, "version", "--format", "{{.Server.Version}}")
 	// Run with sudo on linux (local), otherwise podman-remote (as podman)
 	if runtime.GOOS == "linux" {
-		cmd = exec.CommandContext(ctx, oci.Sudo, "-n", oci.Podman, "info")
+		cmd = exec.CommandContext(ctx, oci.Sudo, "-n", oci.Podman, "version", "--format", "{{.Version}}")
 		cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), "LANG=C", "LC_ALL=C") // sudo is localized
-	} else {
-		cmd = exec.CommandContext(ctx, oci.Podman, "info")
 	}
-	_, err = cmd.Output()
+	o, err := cmd.Output()
+	output := string(o)
 	if err == nil {
+		v, err := semver.Make(output)
+		if err != nil {
+			return registry.State{Error: err, Installed: true, Healthy: false, Fix: "Cant verify minimum required version for podman . See podman website for installation guide.", Doc: "https://podman.io/getting-started/installation.html"}
+		}
+
+		if v.LT(minReqPodmanVer) {
+			glog.Warningf("Warning ! minimum required version for podman is %s. your version is %q. minikube might not work. use at your own risk. To install latest version please see https://podman.io/getting-started/installation.html ", minReqPodmanVer.String(), v.String())
+		}
+
 		return registry.State{Installed: true, Healthy: true}
 	}
 
 	glog.Warningf("podman returned error: %v", err)
 
+	// Basic timeout
+	if ctx.Err() == context.DeadlineExceeded {
+		return registry.State{Error: err, Installed: true, Healthy: false, Fix: "Restart the Podman service", Doc: docURL}
+	}
+
+	username := "$USER"
+	if u, err := user.Current(); err == nil {
+		username = u.Username
+	}
+
 	if exitErr, ok := err.(*exec.ExitError); ok {
 		stderr := strings.TrimSpace(string(exitErr.Stderr))
 		newErr := fmt.Errorf(`%q %v: %s`, strings.Join(cmd.Args, " "), exitErr, stderr)
 
-		username := "$USER"
-		if u, err := user.Current(); err == nil {
-			username = u.Username
-		}
-
 		if strings.Contains(stderr, "a password is required") && runtime.GOOS == "linux" {
 			return registry.State{Error: newErr, Installed: true, Healthy: false, Fix: fmt.Sprintf("Add your user to the 'sudoers' file: '%s ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: %s'", username, podman), Doc: "https://podman.io"}
 		}
 
+		// Typical low-level errors from running podman-remote:
+		// - local: "dial unix /run/podman/io.podman: connect: no such file or directory"
+		// - remote: "unexpected EOF" (ssh varlink isn't so great at handling rejections)
+
+		if strings.Contains(stderr, "could not get runtime") || strings.Contains(stderr, "Unable to obtain server version information") {
+			return registry.State{Error: newErr, Installed: true, Healthy: false, Fix: "Start the Podman service", Doc: docURL}
+		}
+
 		// We don't have good advice, but at least we can provide a good error message
 		return registry.State{Error: newErr, Installed: true, Healthy: false, Doc: docURL}
 	}