Omarchy 4.5: DHH's Linux distro now installs natively on Apple Silicon Macs

Omarchy — DHH’s Arch-based Linux distribution — hit its 4.5 major release (codename Quattro RS): over 740 pull requests from 180+ contributors in twelve weeks, and the headline promise “run Omarchy natively on an Apple Silicon Mac” is now a download action. The announcement went up November 4 under DHH’s name; the repo sat at 46,433 stars as of November 6 (MIT). We previously noted Omarchy as the receiving end in our AirDrop-on-Linux piece — 4.5 completes the main puzzle for Mac users actually switching.

Core features

• Floating workspaces with a dock: Super + L cycles any workspace between tiling, scrolling and floating; floating workspaces get themed titlebars and a dock for pinned, running and installed apps — macOS/Windows arrivals don’t have to learn tiling all at once.
• Native Apple Silicon install: download one app on macOS and Omarchy installs alongside it on M1/M2/M3/Neo MacBooks — no USB stick, no terminal incantations; or brew install omacom/mac/omarchy. The team calls it “finishing what Asahi started,” with M4/M5/M6 on the way.
• 50 languages, 5 input methods: Setup > Language switches menus and the desktop instantly; Japanese (Mozc), Korean (Hangul), Simplified Chinese (Pinyin), Taiwan (Zhuyin) and Hong Kong (Cangjie) input methods ship in the installer.
• First ARM ISO: preliminary support for NVIDIA DGX Spark and N1X laptops (Dell XPS 16 Creator Edition, ASUS ProArt P14), with Snapdragon machines coming.
• AI-friendly: built-in hooks for AI-driven config changes, troubleshooting and environment setup — aimed at agent tinkerers.

Typical use cases

• Second life for old Macs: M1/M2 machines gain years; high-spec machines reportedly install in as fast as 7 seconds.
• A gentler on-ramp to Linux: keep traditional desktop habits, learn tiling gradually.
• A developer’s second system: dual-boot with macOS for terminal and container work.

Quick start

Existing users take Update > Omarchy; new machines install the app from macOS or brew install omacom/mac/omarchy; other ISOs are on the install page.

Summary

Omarchy 4.5 fits users who want an Arch experience that is polished out of the box on Apple Silicon; anyone tied to macOS-exclusive ecosystems (Final Cut, full Xcode workflows) should still think dual-boot. Facts and limits: MIT, Shell-led codebase, DHH’s team steering; ARM support is early (the official line is “expect rough edges”); M4 and newer are in progress. It is a relay rather than a replacement for Asahi Linux — Asahi proved Linux on Apple Silicon was possible, Omarchy makes it a one-click install. The distribution’s own positioning is “beautiful, modern and opinionated”: Hyprland tiling by default, a full Wayland stack, preconfigured Neovim and Ghostty, everything themed.