Chrome Is Gone. I’m Using Chromium Now.

Not because I decided to make a principled stand about open source. Not because I spent hours researching browser performance. Not because Chromium is objectively better.

Because it’s what Omarchy ships with by default. And the default is… fine.

Two weeks ago, that sentence would’ve made me uncomfortable. “Fine” isn’t perfect. “Fine” isn’t optimized. “Fine” isn’t exactly what I want.

Now? Fine is exactly what I need.

The Chrome → Chromium Non-Decision

I’ve used Chrome for years. It syncs my bookmarks, remembers my passwords, has all my extensions configured just right. It’s comfortable. Familiar.

When I installed Omarchy, Chromium was already there. Not Chrome. Chromium - the open-source base that Chrome is built on.

Old me would’ve immediately installed Chrome. Set up sync. Restored all my settings. Made it exactly like it was before.

New me opened Chromium, logged into my Google account, and… everything synced anyway. Same bookmarks. Same extensions. Same passwords. Because Chrome and Chromium are basically the same thing under the hood.

The only difference? Chrome has Google’s proprietary bits. Chromium doesn’t. And honestly? I haven’t noticed.

I’m using Chromium now. Not because I chose it. Because I didn’t choose to replace it.

That’s the philosophy shift.

The Defaults I Kept

Over the past two weeks, I’ve had a dozen moments where I thought “I should change this.”

The status bar layout isn’t exactly how I had it. The terminal colors are different. The file manager isn’t the one I used before. The app launcher has different keybindings.

Each time, I caught myself before opening the config file and asked: “Does this actually bother me? Or am I just used to something else?”

Most of the time? I was just used to something else.

Waybar layout: Shows time, CPU, network, battery. Left to right instead of how I had it. But it shows everything I need. Why spend an hour rearranging it? I did end up adding memory usage but that’s it.

Terminal colors: Matte Black theme instead of my custom palette. It’s pleasant. Easy on the eyes. Not “mine,” but perfectly readable.

File manager: I used Thunar before. Thunar is simpler and lighter. But how often do I actually use my file manager? Twice a day? For basic operations?

Keybindings: Super + Space instead of Super + D. My muscle memory complained for two days. Then adapted. Now it feels normal.

Every default I kept was one less thing to maintain. One less config to track. One less thing to break on the next update.

What I Actually Changed

I’m not saying I kept everything default. Some things genuinely needed adjustment.

Terminal Emulator: Installed Ghostty instead of Alacritty.

Shell: Used zsh + oh-my-zsh + my custom aliases.

Git config: My name, email, preferred editor. Not optional. This is basic identity stuff.

Keybindings: I swapped some keybindings since there are some packages that I don’t use like basecamp, hey, grok, etc.

My old dotfiles repo? Probably removed half of it.

And you know what? The system works better.

The Freedom of Not Caring

Here’s what’s weird about accepting defaults: it’s liberating.

I don’t spend time comparing status bar plugins. Waybar shows what I need. Move on.

I don’t tweak color schemes for aesthetics. The defaults look professional. They don’t hurt my eyes. That’s the bar.

I don’t optimize keybindings for theoretical efficiency. The defaults are logical. My fingers are learning them. Problem solved.

Every time I don’t make a choice, I save mental energy for choices that actually matter.

Like what feature to build next. Like how to solve a technical problem. Like whether this function should be refactored.

The stuff that actually moves my projects forward.

The Test: Can I Explain Why?

I made myself a rule: if I’m going to change a default, I have to explain why in one sentence. Not “because I like it better.” A real reason.

“I’m changing this keybinding because my fingers keep hitting the wrong one and it’s slowing me down.” Valid reason. Changed it.

“I’m changing this color because the default purple clashes with my aesthetic.” Not a valid reason. Kept the default.

“I’m changing this alias because I type this command 50 times a day and the shortcut saves 10 seconds each time.” Valid reason. Changed it.

“I’m changing this font because the other one looks cooler.” Not a valid reason. Kept the default.

Most of the time, I couldn’t come up with a good reason. Which meant the default was probably fine.

What I Stopped Caring About

Things that consumed hours of my time before, that I just… don’t think about anymore:

Perfect color harmony. The colors work. They’re not jarring. They don’t hurt my eyes after 8 hours. That’s enough.

Optimal workflow. My setup isn’t perfectly optimized for every edge case. It handles 95% of what I do smoothly. The other 5%? I’ll adapt.

Unique personality. My desktop doesn’t scream “this is MY setup!” It looks like a clean, functional workspace. Which is exactly what it should be.

Impressive screenshots. I’m not sharing my setup on Reddit. I’m using it to build things. Nobody cares what my desktop looks like except me. And I stopped caring.

The Productivity Proof

Three weeks ago (before Omarchy): Started a new project. Wrote maybe 300 lines of code. Spent most of my time tweaking configs, fixing broken animations, debugging NVIDIA issues.

Last week: Started a new project. Wrote 2,000 lines of code. Shipped a working prototype. Had zero system issues.

The difference? I’m using my computer instead of maintaining it.

When Hyprland updates, Omarchy maintainers handle it. When packages conflict, they’ve already figured out the fix. When something breaks, there’s a community that solved it before I even noticed.

I just… work. On my projects. Like the computer is supposed to let me do.

Novel concept.

The Mindset Shift

Building my own Arch setup taught me: I can control everything. I can understand every piece. I can customize every detail.

Using Omarchy taught me: just because I can doesn’t mean I should.

Control is good when you need it. Understanding is valuable when something breaks. Customization is useful when defaults don’t work.

But most of the time? Defaults work fine. Someone smart thought about these choices. They tested them. They picked reasonable options.

Accepting those choices doesn’t make me less of a Linux user. It makes me a smarter one.

I learned the hard way. I proved I could build from scratch. I understand the system deeply.

Now I’m choosing to use that understanding productively instead of constantly demonstrating it to myself.

Where I Am Now

Twenty-two days into Omarchy and I barely think about my OS anymore.

I boot up. Everything works. I open my tools. I build things. I shut down.

The system is boring. In the best possible way.

Chrome became Chromium and I didn’t notice for three days. That’s how much it didn’t matter.

My status bar is “good enough” and I’ve stopped looking at it. Because I’m looking at my code instead.

My setup isn’t perfect. It’s not perfectly optimized. It’s not uniquely mine.

But it’s productive. It’s stable. It’s maintainable.

And honestly? That’s the dream I was chasing all along. I just got distracted by the journey and forgot about the destination.

Defaults aren’t surrender. They’re delegation. They’re choosing to focus energy on what actually matters.

I’m done customizing for the sake of customizing. I’m done optimizing for the sake of optimizing.

I’m here to build things. The OS is supposed to get out of the way and let me do that.

Omarchy gets out of the way.

Finally.

The arch.log series: My journey from Windows to Arch, from customization obsession to pragmatic defaults, from tinkering to shipping. Sometimes good enough is actually perfect.