This Linux distro that already rivals Windows 11 just got a significant performance boost

CachyOS, the Arch-based Linux distribution, is enabling Python tail-call interpreter in order to improve performance significantly.

The CachyOS logo

A recent update from CachyOS suggets that a new performance-focused feature from Python’s development pipeline is arriving. According to a post shared on X by the official CachyOS account, the distribution has enabled a “tail-call interpreter” in its Python builds, supported by newer compiler versions such as GCC 16.

This development introduces a redesigned interpreter loop that uses tail calls instead of the traditional dispatch mechanisms. The approach tweaks how Python executes bytecode instructions, as the aim is to reduce overhead in instruction dispatch and improve runtime efficiency.

The change stems from ongoing work in CPython and benchmarks based on it show measurable gains. The average performance improvements indicate roughly 1–5% across standard benchmarking suites, with significantly higher gains in specific workloads that can be sensitive to interpreter overhead.

Here's the full breakdown:

8.5% geomean faster AArch64 with Ubuntu 22.04 ARM Neoverse N1. Up to 24% faster on Python workloads.
9.3% geomean faster x86_64 Ubuntu 22.04 with i9-12900. Up to 24% faster on Python workloads.
11.7% geomean faster on AArch64 with macOS M1. Up to 49% faster on Python workloads.

For anyone not familiar, CachyOS is an Arch-based Linux distro that quite heavily focuses on speed and performance. It is said to use specially optimized software packages and a custom kernel designed to take better advantage of modern CPUs, which can make everyday tasks feel faster and smoother. It is also meant to be user-friendly as unlike traditional Arch Linux setups, CachyOS includes tools that automatically detect hardware and install the right drivers.

Last year, CachyOS got a similar performance upgrade for gaming on Nvidia GPUs, and more recently, last month, it received optimizations based on the Linux kernel version 7.0.

cachyOS vs Windows 11 gaming performance

In gaming, especially on AMD GPUs, CachyOS has been found to be as good or even better than Windows 11 on certain occasions, so these continuous performance improvements are likely helping it bridge the gap even further across a variety of workloads.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is also working to better Windows 11 and its many components as we covered recently in one of our PowerToys articles.

Source: CachyOS (X) | Image via NJ Tech (YouTube)