Omarchy 3.4 Is Here - Better Than Ever (And Let's Talk About "Bloat")

Omarchy 3.4 has officially landed and it's a cracker of an update. After the release candidates gave the community a chance to test, report back, and help iron things out, the final version is here and it shows — this is a polished, thoughtful release that builds on everything that already made Omarchy great.

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In this video I walk through the key changes, get Steam up and running on the desktop, and yes — I share my thoughts on the recent "bloat removal" debate that's been floating around the community. Buckle in for that one.

WHAT'S NEW IN OMARCHY 3.4
The team has put serious effort into this release. There are tons of tweaks under the hood and some really welcome quality-of-life changes that make daily use even smoother.
One of the notable changes is to the keybindings for the AI dictation feature — the voice typing tool. Previously there was an issue with the way keys were releasing, which made it a bit unreliable. They've now switched it to a toggle on/off system and it works much better. Smart fix that came directly from user feedback, which is exactly how this should work.

There's a whole pile of smaller refinements. I haven't covered every single one in this video, but check the changelog — the list is long and it's all good stuff. Each release just keeps adding clever little touches

STEAM AND GAMING ON OMARCHY

I do a quick walkthrough of getting Steam set up and running. A couple of things to note if you're gaming on this setup — my system likes to pretend it supports HDR when it doesn't, so I show how to switch that off in the Steam settings to avoid weird colour issues. I've also had to cap my resolution at 2560x1440 because running at 4K through the video output throws a wobbly. Once you've got those settings dialled in though, it runs beautifully.

Coming out of Steam's Big Picture mode is Super+Shift+R — shuts it straight down and drops you back to the desktop. Clean and simple, just like everything else in Omarchy.

THE "BLOAT" DEBATE
Right, here's where I get on my soapbox for a minute. There's been a thing recently about removing so-called bloat from Omarchy — stripping out pre-installed applications. And honestly, I think it's a waste of time and energy that could be spent making the system better.

When I think of bloat, I think of Windows. I think of McAfee. I think of manufacturer-installed junk that serves no purpose other than to slow your machine down and annoy you. That's bloat. Software that's been carefully chosen and included because it's genuinely useful? That's not bloat. That's a curated experience.

Everything that ships with Omarchy is there for a reason. You might not personally use every application, and that's fine — just remove what you don't need. But complaining that OBS comes pre-installed on a Linux distribution built for creators and tinkerers? Come on. That's not bloat, that's a feature.

I'd much rather see the time and effort that went into building a bloat removal tool go into improving the core system instead. But hey, it's there now and you can use it if you want. Each to their own.

If you want to experience real bloatware, install Windows 11 and get back to me.

WHY OMARCHY
If you're like me, once you start using Omarchy you just can't go back. It's simplicity in a nutshell. Everything is thought through, the community feedback loop actually works, and it just keeps getting better. Version 3.4 is the best it's ever been.
If you've been on the fence, download it and have a go. You won't regret it.

I make videos about Linux gaming, Arch-based distributions, hardware experiments, and getting the most out of your setup. If that sounds like your thing, subscribe and stick around — there's plenty more coming.