The March 2026 ISO refresh of the Arch Linux powered CachyOS distribution is now available for new installations and upgrading from existing CachyOS installs.
CachyOS March 2026 brings a number of installer improvements and other updates, especially for CachyOS Handheld Edition catering to the Steam Deck and other gaming handheld devices. Some of the key highlights of CachyOS March 2026 include:
– The CachyOS installer can now show animated GIF/WebP previews in its desktop selection showcase. JPEG-XL support is also available for smaller image sizes in the installer UI.
– The CachyOS Welcome screen now includes a button to install and enable Winboat for a seamless Windows Docker VM experience.
– CachyOS Handheld Edition has replaced gamescope-session-plus with gamescope-session-cachyos that contains a fork of Valve’s Gamescope session and enables firmware updates for the Steam Deck and Legion Go devices.
– CachyOS Handheld Edition ISO now uses Wayland rather than X11.
– SDDM has been replaced with the new Plasma Login Manager for CachyOS Handheld Edition.
– Bcachefs has been removed from the file-system selection code in the CachyOS installer due to its dependence on the out-of-tree/DKMS kernel module.
Downloads and more details on this latest CachyOS monthly refresh via CachyOS.org.
