Have you noticed everyone talking about CachyOS lately—seemingly surpassing Ubuntu and Linux Mint in popularity? Are you wondering what makes this Arch-based newcomer so special? Let me show you why this distro is capturing everyone’s attention right now.
Who Voted CachyOS the Most Popular Distro?
CachyOS is an Arch-based Linux distro that’s been dominating the popularity charts on DistroWatch for the past 12 months—beating longtime favorites like Ubuntu and Linux Mint. Now, for those who don’t know, DistroWatch is a directory and news site for Linux distributions. It has a feature called Hits Per Day (HPD), which counts how many times a particular distribution’s page on the DistroWatch website was accessed. It’s a fun way to get an idea of which distro gets the most attention and signals to distro-hoppers that they might want to try out that distribution next!
To be clear, being the most popular distro on DistroWatch doesn’t mean it’s the most used or downloaded distribution. Most Linux distributions don’t track users, so there’s no precise way to tell how many people are actually running a particular distro. DistroWatch simply tells us how many times a distribution’s page has been accessed on their website—essentially a marker for curiosity and interest.
Now, for the longest time, Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Debian, and MX Linux have dominated the top five rankings on DistroWatch. Sure, a distro would come out once in a while and take the number one spot because it’s new and novel, but it would soon get displaced by the regulars—that is, until now!
CachyOS has been holding the number one spot on DistroWatch’s popularity list for more than six months. That’s huge because it shows a consistent interest in the distribution that goes beyond novelty or some trivial gimmick. So, what is CachyOS offering that made it leapfrog all-time fan favorites like Linux Mint and Ubuntu?
What Makes CachyOS So Attractive?
In my time testing CachyOS, I feel the distro has tapped into the current zeitgeist. It understands what the majority of Linux users want and care about, and offers them in a package that you can seriously daily drive! Here’s a more detailed breakdown of what I mean.
A Familiar Yet Modernized Windows-Like Experience
One of the reasons why Linux Mint is so popular is because it offers a familiar Windows-like experience with its Cinnamon desktop environment. Not only is this welcoming to folks coming from Windows, but most people in general prefer a single panel taskbar with a Start Menu-like app launcher—and you get that with Mint!
Now, CachyOS also offers a similar Windows-like user experience with its KDE Plasma desktop environment—but it’s much more modernized. The taskbar is floating by default with tons of customization options to change its dimensions and also add plugins to augment its functionality. In fact, it’s much more feature-rich than Windows itself—making it a perfect platform for Windows power users who like to tinker and experiment. KDE Plasma is packed with features for peak productivity you’re going to love!
A Reliable User Experience Paired With Bleeding Edge Updates
In the Linux world, you typically need to choose between having a stable and reliable system or access to bleeding-edge features. For example, both Mint and Ubuntu prefer stability and reliability, delaying feature updates. You typically need to wait a couple of months to get access to new software features—sometimes even wait till the next OS version upgrade.
On the flip side, you have distros like Arch Linux, which follow a rolling release cycle and give you access to new software updates as soon as the developer releases them. While theoretically, this can make Arch less stable—since all the software isn’t thoroughly tested for how they interact with one another—in my experience, Arch is stable enough for day-to-day use. That said, CachyOS makes Arch even more reliable by using the Btrfs file system.
You see, the Btrfs file system paired with the Snapper tool allows you to capture system snapshots. This means that even if your system breaks, you can use these snapshots to revert to a previous working state. You don’t even have to worry if the system doesn’t boot because the snapshots are accessible directly from the GRUB menu.
I should also mention that CachyOS comes with Btrfs Assistant, a graphical tool to help you manage your system snapshots. This makes the distro appeal to folks who are not willing to compromise and want a system that’s both reliable and bleeding edge.
Specifically Optimized for Modern Hardware
Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek
While Linux distros are popular for breathing life into weak and decade-old hardware, CachyOS takes the opposite approach—it’s specifically optimized for modern and cutting-edge systems. The distro comes with a customized version of the Linux kernel called the CachyOS kernel, and a special optimized repo that contains packages specifically compiled to deliver better performance on modern processors.
Here’s CachyOS’s official documentation on how it improves performance using tools like BORE Schedulers and optimization techniques like LTO, PGO, and BOLT! Without getting too technical, the distro is essentially focused on getting the maximum performance out of newer CPUs—namely AMD Ryzen series CPUs and Intel Haswell CPUs or later. It also offers native NVIDIA GPU support out of the box with excellent hardware detection.
This appeals to Linux newcomers who aren’t necessarily running a potato PC and want to get the most performance out of their modern hardware.
I’ve installed and tested CachyOS on my Ryzen 5 5600G system paired with 32GB RAM, and I can vouch for its claims. It does feel snappier than most distros and even smoother than Garuda Linux—another performance-focused distro that I daily drive. Applications launch within a few seconds, and compilation times for AUR packages are noticeably shorter. It feels like getting a performance increase you’d expect after a minor hardware upgrade—similar to how I felt when jumping from the Ryzen 5 3600G to the 5600G.
Gaming Ready Out of the Box
Linux gaming is better than ever with support for multiple AAA Windows titles, and CachyOS is one of the best distros to game on. You get a one-click button in the CachyOS Hello app to install all necessary gaming files and packages. This makes the distro gaming-ready with a single click—no need to worry about searching for and installing the necessary packages and manually configuring everything.
There’s also a handheld version of CachyOS, which shows the developers’ intention to cater to the growing audience of handheld gaming PCs. It stands as an excellent Linux-based alternative OS for devices like the ROG Ally and Legion Go. In fact, I’d even argue that you can install CachyOS over SteamOS (which is also Linux based) on your Steam Deck, and you might get a few more FPS in your games!
- Dimensions
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28.0 x 11.1 x 2.12 ~ 3.24 cm (11.02″ x 4.37″ x 0.83″ ~ 1.28″)
- Number of Games Included
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1 + Game Pass Ultimate Voucher
- Playing Time
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45 mins to 3 hours (tested)
- Brand
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ASUS
- Weight
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608g (1,34lbs)
- Chipset
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AMD Ryzen™ Z1 Extreme APU
A Near Terminal-Free Arch Linux Experience
Arch-based distros generally require more system maintenance, which necessitates navigating the command line from time to time. However, thanks to the CachyOS Hello app, you get a graphical tool where you can just press a button to launch useful scripts for system maintenance.
This means using the terminal becomes more of a choice rather than a necessity. It’s there if you need it, but you don’t necessarily have to use it—which is a great relief for folks who hate using the terminal. As a result, CachyOS becomes much more beginner-friendly and approachable for Linux newcomers while still preserving a functional core for terminal-loving power users.
So, Is There a Catch to Using CachyOS?
CachyOS promises a blazing-fast and customizable Linux distro. If you ask me—and all the folks visiting its DistroWatch page—the distro delivers on both fronts! It’s among the rare few distros that manage to do a great job balancing two opposite worlds—stability with cutting-edge updates, powerful features with ease of use, and familiarity with customization.
The only issue you might have is that it’s running Arch, and new Linux users can find Arch too challenging to start with. While CachyOS tries to make it as simple as possible, you might still run into issues where you’ll need some Linux troubleshooting skills.
I wouldn’t necessarily call this a deal-breaker though! The ArchWiki offers excellent documentation to help you troubleshoot issues yourself. I personally see it as a sharper and more sober version of Garuda Linux, which is a good thing because I’ve been daily driving Garuda for four years now with zero complaints!