CachyOS 2026 Review: Time to Switch?

CachyOS is Arch Linux with all sorts of optimizations and a solid installer. Is this the new Linux desktop of 2026? I have been running it for over a week now and it hasn't left my desktop. Links below: Download CachyOS: https://cachyos.org/ Hardware: Asus XG27JCG - 5K / 180hz new monitor (check my review): https://amzn.to/45fep2T I own 4x Dell S2725QS 4k / 120hz IPS Monitors (THE Best under $300): https://amzn.to/43dPOel Samsung 128GB Black USB key - avoid annoying cheap ones: https://amzn.to/3H2ngLX Just want to experiment? The Beelink SER8 (Ryzen 8945HS / 32GB / 1TB for $499) runs Linux really really well: https://amzn.to/46oIz4X Netgear 2.5G Switch (my network is now MUCH faster): https://amzn.to/48OO0tw I personally use FastMail for email (not sponsored - I pay for it) because I can use custom domains for all of my projects, and they don't scan my email for ads. Use this link to get 10% off and help the channel: https://join.fastmail.com/2972c0bf 0:00 Ubuntu, Fedora, and CachyOS 0:32 Why rolling release matters 0:49 Who this video is for 1:30 The terminal fear is overblown 2:17 Why Linux gives you an edge 3:37 Making your setup “just right” 4:32 Booting the CachyOS installer 5:05 Kernel options and stability 6:00 Trying KDE Plasma live 7:20 Fractional scaling on Linux 8:27 Starting the full install 8:56 Bootloader and partition choices 10:29 Encryption and filesystem setup 11:20 Desktop environment options 12:50 Why KDE Plasma 14:26 Installing CachyOS 15:29 Optimized packages and kernels 16:09 Driver installation 17:11 CachyOS performance explained 18:10 Linux installs are incredibly fast 18:41 Booting the installed system 19:15 NVIDIA working out of the box 19:44 KDE customization tour 20:36 Installing apps graphically 22:06 Terminal tools and transparency 22:42 Built-in btop and paru 23:17 Installing DaVinci Resolve 24:15 Fast video editing setup 25:24 Running DaVinci Resolve 26:49 Installing Steam 28:38 Steam and Linux gaming 29:25 Proton and Steam runtime 30:06 KDE settings and accessibility 32:04 Testing Skyrim on Linux 34:34 Testing Streets of Rogue 36:13 Installing Kdenlive 37:09 CachyOS vs Omarchy workflow 38:04 Final thoughts on CachyOS 39:26 Stop distro hopping? 40:17 Which distro do you prefer?