I recently switched from Windows to Linux Mint and have been enjoying my experience so far, but I find that the performance isn't as great as I'd like it to be. I'm thinking about trying CachyOS because I hear it's a more user-friendly Arch-based version. My main concern is how much setup I'll need to do compared to Mint. Will most things work right out of the box, or should I expect to spend a lot of time configuring it?
2 Answers
I've been using CachyOS as my daily driver for over a year, and its installer is pretty similar to Mint's—just pick your drive, keyboard layout, and desktop environment. If you’re coming from Windows or using Cinnamon now, KDE Plasma might be a good choice. After installation, it’s pretty much the same as any other OS: download what you need and customize it. Get familiar with `pacman` and consider using a helper like `yay` for easier updates. Just remember, being a rolling release distro, you'll need to keep on top of your updates more regularly compared to Mint where it notifies you.
Most of CachyOS should work pretty well right off the bat, and you might even find it a bit faster than Mint. That said, you could run into a few minor issues, which might be a bit annoying. If you’re enjoying Linux so far and don’t mind experimenting, go for it! If you want to play it safe, consider trying the live version or setting it up on a virtual machine first.
Also, if you like the Cinnamon desktop on Mint, you can choose that during installation on CachyOS as well!