My Personal Journey with CachyOS
Man, let me tell you. My whole Linux journey started back with Ubuntu 8.04, and ever since, it's been a total rabbit hole. I got this ridiculous habit of switching between Linux and Windows every few months, and I know it's extremely counterproductive—the constant setup is a total pain—but I can't seem to stop myself. But honestly? CachyOS on my new Asus laptop might be the distro that finally gets me to stay put.
I've got this asus vivobook s14 m5406WA with a Ryzen 9 AI 365 and a Radeon 880M, and with CachyOS, it just sings. The speed is mind-blowing. You can feel the custom kernel working its magic; it's genuinely snappy and responsive in a way that just feels better than any other distro I've tried. It's not just a little faster—it’s a night and day difference.
Being Arch-based is a huge part of why it feels so good i guess. I get the freedom to build a lean machine exactly how I want it, with no bloat. And because it's a rolling-release model, I always have the latest drivers and patches, which is a must for a bleeding-edge chip like the Ryzen AI. The community is awesome, too. I’m always on this subreddit and forums, and the developers are so on top of things. They fix issues in a flash and are completely transparent with everyone.
Now, it's not perfect. That Mediatek Wi-Fi card is still a pain (high latency, dont sleep, Wifi 6E buggy), as expected. And the real gut punch? The fact that I can't use my NPU yet. The driver is there, but the software support just isn't ready on the Linux side. It's a real shame, but I guess that's just part of the deal when you're on the cutting edge.
But even with those compromises, CachyOS is so solid that my usual urge to switch back to Windows is fading. It's a fantastic distro for anyone who's been down the Linux rabbit hole and wants to get the most out of their hardware. I've got a feeling I'll be staying on this side of the fence for a good while.