Same ThinkPad, same tower, two operating systems: Windows 11 as it actually ships in 2026, and Omarchy (especially 4 Quattro) as an Arch + Hyprland daily driver. This is the question people ask after a YouTube video: can I throw Windows out? Sometimes yes. Sometimes you keep a Windows partition because of one app, one anti-cheat, or a work image you do not control.
No synthetic “Omarchy is 14% snappier” numbers here. Snappy is your SSD, your RAM, and whether Hyprland is compositing a 4K desktop while Chrome has 80 tabs. What follows is the tradeoff list I walk through before anyone dds over BitLocker.
Related Linux-vs-Linux: Omarchy vs Fedora 44, Omarchy vs CachyOS. If NVIDIA cannot even install Omarchy, nomodeset ISO.
Hardware class I mean
“Same class of PC” = a 16–32 GB RAM laptop or a mid desktop with a discrete NVIDIA/AMD GPU, UEFI, NVMe. Not a 4 GB netbook (use Mint or Fedora XFCE). Not a CoreOS NUC. Both OSes are comfortable on this hardware when drivers exist.
Check in Windows first: Device Manager with no yellow triangles, BitLocker recovery key saved offline, Fast Startup understood (it is a hybrid shutdown that confuses dual-boot). On Linux later: nvidia-smi or lsmod | grep amdgpu, not vibes.
Install and firmware
Windows 11: TPM, Secure Boot, Microsoft account pressure, OEM bloat if it is a vendor image. You already know this dance. Firmware stays in the Windows-friendly defaults.
Omarchy: UEFI USB, possibly Secure Boot off, possibly patched ISO for NVIDIA live boot. Quattro added dual-boot support in the installer — still back up. Limine vs Windows Boot Manager in NVRAM is the usual place people think they “deleted Windows” when they only ordered boot entries wrong.
What to try: dual-boot on a spare NVMe if you can. Clonezilla / dd the Windows disk first. If you cannot clone, you are not ready to wipe.
Desktop feel (qualitative)
Windows 11 is overlapping windows, taskbar, Win+tab, a Start menu that wants cloud. Fine for “other people’s computers.” Bad if you live in tiling already.
Omarchy is tiling, keyboard, Quickshell bar in 4.x. Fine for terminals and browsers. Bad if you need Photoshop-class tablet apps or a family member who panics without Explorer. Teaching Hyprland to a Windows-only user is a project. Do not surprise your spouse with Super+Enter as the only way to a terminal.
Trackpads: libinput on Omarchy can be excellent on ThinkPads and weird on no-name Windows laptops. That is a hardware/quirk issue. Test your palm rejection for an evening, not a screenshot.
GPU, NVIDIA, and “it works on Windows”
Windows 11 + GeForce driver is still the path of least resistance for a 40-series card. Omarchy is Arch: it works when the nvidia package matches the kernel and Hyprland is not fighting KMS. I have spent more hours on Linux NVIDIA than I will ever get back. AMD is generally kinder on Linux; NVIDIA is kinder on Windows. If your job is CUDA in Windows-only tools, that decides the OS regardless of tiling aesthetics.
DaVinci Resolve: the Windows free/Studio build still wins on codec support. Linux Resolve needs transcodes (DNxHR dance). If editing phone H.264 all week is the job, Windows (or a transcode pipeline you actually maintain) is the honest answer.
OBS: both work. NVENC on Windows is boring in a good way. On Omarchy, PipeWire + NVIDIA is fine once the driver is real; Wayland capture is a different UI than Game Bar.
Gaming and anti-cheat
Proton on Omarchy is the same Proton as on any Arch. A huge amount of Steam works. Anti-cheat (kernel-level, some Easy Anti-Cheat/BattlEye titles) still forces Windows or a second disk. I will not list titles; they change monthly. What to try: the three games you actually play, on Proton experimental and Proton-GE, before you delete C:\. If two of them need Windows, dual-boot. If all three work, you can go Linux-first.
Game Pass, Xbox app, some launchers: Windows. Lutris/Heroic cover a lot; they do not cover everything.
Work apps and “the other OS”
Microsoft 365 in a browser is fine on Omarchy. Thick Outlook + Teams + company Intune: Windows, or a Windows VM (QEMU on Fedora if the hypervisor is a Fedora box; VMware habits on Arch). Do not discover on Monday that the VPN client is a .msi with a kernel driver.
Creative Adobe suite: Windows or Mac. GIMP/Krita/Inkscape/Resolve-on-Linux are the Linux story.
SSH, containers, pacman, AUR: Omarchy wins because it is a Linux workstation. WSL2 is good; it is not the same as the machine being Linux.
Battery, sleep, firmware
Laptops: Windows still has the OEM sleep/firmware story. Linux on the same class can be equal, better, or “lid close is a lottery.” ThinkPad + Fedora is a known quantity; Omarchy on the same ThinkPad is usually fine because it is just Linux. Cheap Windows ultraportables with weird EC firmware are where Linux sleep dies. What to try: one commute with the lid. If it cooks in the bag, keep Windows or pick a distro with your exact DMI quirks documented.
Security and updates
Windows: Patch Tuesday, Defender, BitLocker, SmartScreen. Corporate-friendly.
Omarchy: rolling Arch, you are the IT department. Full-disk encryption if you enabled it. Firewall (ufw-docker notes showed up in Quattro upgrade notes) is on you. Rolling + Hyprland is a larger attack surface in the sense of more moving parts, not in the cartoon “Linux never gets malware” sense.
Homelab services should not live on your Windows gaming partition or your Omarchy rice. They live on CoreOS.
Decision shortcuts
- Must run one Windows-only binary with a driver: keep Windows, Omarchy in dual-boot or a second PC.
- Must edit H.264 without a transcode pipeline: Windows Resolve, or pay for Studio features / stay on Windows.
- Must have tiling, agents in the bar, Arch: Omarchy, keep a Windows USB for emergencies.
- Work laptop with Intune: Windows. Fight that battle at work, not with pacman.
- Same class PC, you own it, Steam library is Proton-friendly, you like keyboards: Omarchy as daily, optional small Windows partition until you forget to boot it for three months.
First-week tests on the actual PC
- Does Omarchy live ISO show a picture? If not, nomodeset patch.
- After install, does sleep/resume work twice in a row?
nvidia-smi/ Vulkan cube / one Proton game.- One Windows-only app you think you need — try a VM first.
- Browser video calls (camera, screenshare on Wayland).
- Backup restore: can you get Windows back from the clone?
If step 6 is “no,” do not complete step wipe.
Wrap-up
Omarchy vs Windows 11 on the same class of PC is not a religion. Windows still owns awkward GPUs, awkward anti-cheat, and awkward employers. Omarchy owns the keyboard-driven Linux workstation and the Arch ecosystem. Dual-boot is not a moral failure; it is a clutch. When the clutch goes unused, delete the partition on purpose.
For the Linux-only fork of this decision, read Omarchy vs CachyOS and Mint 22.3 vs Fedora 44.
Best regards,
The Linux IT Guy