A month after its previous July update, the Arch-based CachyOS has rolled out its ninth release of the year, focusing on robust hardware detection, seamless software integration, and substantial infrastructure upgrades.
The distro now defaults to using NVIDIA’s open modules for hardware detection, enhancing compatibility and performance. Users preferring the traditional closed-source approach can still easily switch back.
Furthermore, introducing the NVIDIA Beta driver 560 promises stability and cutting-edge graphics performance.
And now to something exciting. The release marks the debut of the COSMIC Desktop Environment on CachyOS. Available for installation, users can now enjoy a refreshed desktop experience with additional packages like cosmic-text-editor and cosmic-terminal.
Of course, keep in mind that COSMIC is still in the Alpha stage, so it’s far from ideal for everyday use. So, its presence in this release is mainly for testing purposes.
This update also includes infrastructure improvements. More specifically, CachyOS has partnered with CDN77 to provide a global cache CDN, boosting download speeds and reliability worldwide.
This move addresses previous issues with outdated mirrors and ensures users experience faster and more consistent package deliveries.
Addressing security concerns, CachyOS introduces an easy-to-use script for managing Secure Boot, complete with a detailed Wiki guide.
Additionally, the cachy-chroot program has been updated to support automatically mounting user partitions from the Live ISO, simplifying system recovery processes.
The Kernel Manager has seen various enhancements, including passing custom flags and remembering settings for custom-built kernels.
Other system-wide updates include improved hardware detection for PRIME profiles and the removal of the RTD3 workaround, which had caused issues in some setups.
Lastly, the Handheld Edition now officially supports the Ally X, bolstering device compatibility and performance. Updates to Wayland Input Emulation and blockage of PackageKit installation on Arch Linux-based systems further refine the handheld user experience.
The announcement provides a complete list of changes. For users eager to try out the latest capabilities, the updated ISO files are available for download via CachyOSโs SourceForge mirrors for those opting for a fresh install.
Of course, as a rolling release, existing CachyOS users can update their systems via the standard sudo pacman -Syu command to get the latest.
