CachyOS
| CachyOS | |
|---|---|
 | |
 CachyOS with KDE Plasma | |
| Developer | Peter Jung ("ptr1337"), Vladislav Nepogodin ("vnepogodin"), and community contributors |
| OS family | Linux (Unix-like) |
| Working state | Current |
| Source model | Open source |
| Initial release | July 2021 |
| Latest release | 260809  / 9 August 2026 |
| Marketing target | Desktop computing, gaming, and handheld gaming PCs |
| Package manager | Pacman (with community AUR helpers) |
| Supported platforms | x86-64 |
| Kernel type | Monolithic (Linux kernel, custom-patched) |
| Userland | GNU |
| Default user interface | KDE Plasma (default); GNOME, Xfce, Hyprland, COSMIC, and others available |
| License | Free and open-source software (predominantly GPL and other free-software licenses) |
| Official website | cachyos |
CachyOS is a rolling release Linux distribution based on Arch Linux that focuses on performance optimizations for modern x86-64 hardware, including gaming workloads. It rebuilds its kernel and core packages with CPU-architecture-specific compiler optimizations while retaining Arch's Pacman package manager and compatibility with the Arch User Repository (AUR). The project provides both a graphical installer built on Calamares and a command-line installer, a choice of more than a dozen desktop environments and window managers, and a dedicated "Handheld Edition" aimed at devices such as the Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, and Lenovo Legion Go.
Since 2024, CachyOS has attracted increased attention in the Linux enthusiast press for its rapid growth in popularity, including reaching the top spot in DistroWatch's page-hit ranking in 2025 and, in March 2026, overtook Arch Linux as the distribution with the most user-submitted compatibility reports on ProtonDB.