It really is just Arch with a different init system. There are no noticeable major differences. The faster bootup times are probably negligible.
Of course I like the idea of minimalism and the unix philosophy, but the reason I chose Artix isn’t so philosophic. I was already using Arch on my laptop and wanted to install it on my desktop, but I enjoy trying to do harder things and learning in the process, so I ended up learning how to use a different init system… and I also did it because I liked the Artix logo better lol.
I’m very happy with both Artix and Arch and while I wish systemd wasn’t almost a monopoly, at the end of the day everyone is free to use what they want as long as it doesn’t hurt the linux ecosystem for others.
The default layout is what feels comfortable to me and I chose starfish because I used to use starship with zsh, so I went with something I was familiar with and didn’t think too much about it.
I didn’t even know about tide until now but after a quick look I can’t find any groundbreaking differences in the layouts compared to starfish.