CachyOS, the Linux distro based on Arch, has gotten its sixth release this year, with a new package dashboard, support for Niri WM, as well as the usual bug fixes and improvements.
Starting with the dashboard, hosted at packages.cachyos.org, the team describes it as a "comprehensive overview of the current versions of packages used" in the distro. The Next.js website allows you to sort packages by architecture (like x86-64-v4), package name, and more.
There"s also a download link for each binary if you need to inspect or manually install one. It helpfully shows the PKGBUILD source, letting you know exactly which packages are pulled from Arch and which ones CachyOS has modified.
The CachyOS ISO now uses the latest Linux LTS kernel instead of the stable one, which has been more prone to causing graphics issues for newer AMD and Intel GPUs. After installation, the system will have the LTS kernel available as a fallback option, which should make the system more resilient if a new stable kernel causes trouble. On the hardware front, the distro enabled S0ix for supported NVIDIA hardware to provide modern low-power standby.
NiriWM, a scrollable Wayland tiling manager, has been added to this release as a desktop option in the online installer. The installer also ships with several dotfiles to provide a good out-of-the-box experience, with some notable keybinds outlined below:
| Description | Key |
|---|---|
| Open terminal | Super + Return |
| Open Wofi (Program Launcher) | Super + Space |
| Close focused window | Super + Q |
| Focus column left/right | Super + H/L |
| Go to workspace (1-9) | Super + 1-9 |
| More keybindings are available in the official docs. |
When you choose the GRUB bootloader with a Btrfs filesystem, the system now automatically sets up bootable snapshots, a feature that was previously only automatic with the Limine bootloader. For staying current, the new Cachy-Update tool has been added to the CachyOS repository; you can find and enable it from the CachyOS-Hello > Tweaks page to get a tray icon for system updates.
The team also updated Proton-CachyOS with several gaming-focused features, including upgraders for DLSS, XeSS, and FSR 3.1. It now also bundles missing NVIDIA libraries to improve PhysX support in games.
As for bug fixes, the following were resolved:
- Several issues with the Limine bootloader on MBR/BIOS systems, including installation errors and broken Windows dual-booting, have been fixed.
- A warning was added for a
bios-grubflag that could cause boot failures. - Btrfs snapshots now boot correctly when using the GNOME Display Manager.
- The "Launch Installer" button now has fallback pings to check for an internet connection.
You can learn more from the official announcement. The latest ISO (Desktop Edition) is available on SourceForge.