A New Journey

I started this blog as a way to document my journey about using the iPad Pro more. Specifically because of the iPadOS 26 announcement. I wrote about how that went at the end of August.

So what journey am I on now?

One with the Framework 13, which is running Omarchy.

I could spend hours writing every detailed reason I chose to try this out. But in essence, it's because I enjoy using computers, I want to control everything about my computer, I want to learn new things, and I want a new experience. Especially one that is grounded in my role as a software engineer. I want to use a computer that respects that I may want to make my own choices.

Now that's out of the way, as for my current usage with my new laptop and Omarchy, it hasn't exactly been long. I mean, I've used Arch many times in the past, so I know my way around Linux, and I've also used Omarchy before. Once on an old ThinkPad, and also very recently on my PC. However, my Framework laptop only arrived 2 days ago, so I haven't had that much time with it yet.

But in that short time, I've grown to really appreciate the choices that DHH has made. I like how on one hand you're using a tiling window manager, various TUIs, most actions bound to key bindings, etc. But then you've also got the various guides, Discord community, and the Omarchy tool where you can select various themes, install development environments in a single action.

It's definitely opinionated. it has various "default" applications installed and already bound to key bindings, such as Hey for email, Alacritty as a terminal, ChatGPT as an AI interface, and a few more. These aren't my choices. But because of the way it's been put together, I will be able to personalise it to my liking. Such as using Ghostty as my terminal, and Perplexity as my preferred AI tool. I plan on doing all of that initial customisation this weekend.

Before I get to that, here are a few quick thoughts on Omarchy so far:

• It feels fast.
• The Omarchy menu makes it very easy to install software, and also perform developer specific actions. E.g. I installed Node.js from the Development menu, instead of manually choosing a package.
• Gaming seems pretty easy. I installed Steam (via the Omarchy menu again), and then used Proton to install Battle.net, and then World of Warcraft. No issues so far.
• Everything is well documented.
• Good range of themes. I probably will try to create my own in the future.
• There's a good community over on Discord.

And it's only been 2 days, but some initial thoughts on the Framework 13:

• The matte screen is incredible.
• I was worried about this, but the keyboard is very comfortable to use. I imagined a period of adaptation, but as soon as I started typing, it just felt natural. Even after so many years of using a MacBook, it never felt this comfortable.
• I have the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and 32 GB memory, so I assume this will handle everything I throw at it. But I haven't exactly thrown much at it yet.
• It's very light, but still feels sturdy and reliable. I'd say the MacBooks still have the edge when it comes to overall hardware feel. But I definitely appreciate the lighter weight.

As for what's next, I'll probably start my trying to make this feel more like my own computer. Starting with setting up my application preferences, migrating my old Linux dotfiles, and just getting everything ready. Once that's done, it will be time to get on and write some code!

I expect I'll be writing about Omarchy again on this blog as I use it more. But as a side note, I have a new blog chrishannah.dev, which is empty right now, but will be the place where I plan on posting more development specific content.