---
title: "Omarchy — A Minimal Linux Distribution on an iMac"
language: en
topics: ["apple", "experiment", "linux"]
full_article_url: https://willem.com/en/2025-09-22_omarchy-on-imac/
---
# Omarchy — A Minimal Linux Distribution on an iMac

*Arch-based, tiling window manager, designed for focus — running on Apple hardware.*

> Omarchy is a minimal, opinionated Linux distribution based on Arch. Willem installed it on a 27-inch iMac 5K — repurposing Apple hardware with an OS that's the philosophical opposite of macOS.

**Omarchy** is an Arch-based Linux distribution built around a tiling window manager. No desktop icons, no dock, no visual noise — just windows arranged automatically to fill your screen.



Willem installed it on a 27-inch iMac 5K, giving new life to Apple hardware that was designed for macOS. The 5K display runs beautifully under Linux, and the tiling workflow turns the large screen into a productivity machine: terminal on one side, browser on the other, no overlap, no distraction.

The combination of Apple's hardware quality with Linux's software freedom is the best of both worlds — and a direct extension of Willem's [retro computing philosophy](https://willem.com/en/retro-computing-and-the-thinkpad-philosophy/).