Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS is now available for download, marking the debut of System76’s ambitious, all-new, Rust-based COSMIC desktop environment on its flagship Linux distribution.
The company notes that it’s been a “long ride” to get here (building an entirely new Linux desktop, compositor, widget toolkit, and suite of first-party apps is no easy task). System76 first announced plans to build COSMIC in 2021, with alpha and beta builds following.
Now COSMIC is where it was aiming for: in to orbit, twinkling among a constellation of Linux desktop environments (cheesy, heh?). Can it shine as bright as its starry kin? Time’ll tell.
For now, Carl Richell, Founder and CEO of System76, is reflecting on the journey. In a letter he says both he and System76 are “proud of this contribution to the open source ecosystem”, before adding:
COSMIC is built on the ethos that the best open source projects enable people to not only use them, but to build with them. COSMIC is modular and composable [and] can be adapted by anyone that wants to build their own unique user experience for Linux.
Carl Richell, System76
They should be proud.
The ‘why reinvent the wheel’ chatter that initially greeted COSMIC’s announcement often overlooked the reality that the same wheel does not suit all modes of transport (i.e., end-users).
Innovation requires rethinking accepted norms, and not every endeavour needs to dominate or become the next unquestionable standard to be valuable. Not being everything to everyone can, paradoxically, be a compelling point of difference!
An entirely Rust-based DE built using a toolkit (Iced) is novel. Working with, adapting and extending lesser-used languages, toolkits and tech so they can do more things is a net win – even just from the learning experience as its feeds the wider open source knowledge pool1.
It helps to thin of open-source like LEGO. Sure, it’s great have ready-made NASA shuttles or castles to play with, and all the bits ready with instructions to hand to recreate them. And we can, of course, modify to extend those sets…
But you can’t build different things without getting different size, shape or coloured bricks from time to time. Rust, Iced, COSMIC – however one extrapolates my (strained) analogy, COMSIC gives open source plenty of new bricks, ideas and blueprints to work with.
COSMIC Desktop: First Stable Release
COSMIC desktop is highly customisable
COSMIC (Epoch 1) is a launchpad: a functional, responsive desktop with a tone of customisation potential, but is is the first release. As such, I’d urge anyone who tries it to resist the urge to compare it against desktops that have been developed for decades.
I don’t want to undersell how solid and usable it is (because it is), just… Go appreciate what it is rather than what it isn’t.
The COSMIC desktop offers:
- Tiling window features – mouse or keyboard based
- Workspaces – horizontal or vertical
- Multi-monitor support – including auto-scaling
- Extensive theming and desktop layout options
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Stacks, snapping, and sticky windows
- Panel applets
The extent to which COSMIC’s look and layout can be customised is, for a first release, impressive.
Want a Dash-to-Panel style setup? You can. Want an Ubuntu-style arrangement? You can. Want everything hidden off-screen? You can. Want island panel with gaps sat on the side of the screen? You can. You get the idea, right?
A desktop of infinite looks
Rounding things out are a suite of native COSMIC apps. There’s a basic file manager, media player (supports subtitles), terminal (with tabs and splits), text editor and a GNOME-style screenshot utility.
The native COSMIC Store looks and works great, making it easy to find and install as well as manage and update apps and system packages, both underlying DEB and Flatpaks install from remotes like Flathub, with support for adding additional remotes.
Pop!_OS 24.04 beyond COSMIC
Workspace management in COSMIC on Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS
Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS is based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS but runs on the newer Linux kernel 6.172 paired with Mesa 25.1 graphics drivers and, for those needing them, the NVIDIA 580 series proprietary driver.
The distro offers full access to the underlying Ubuntu 24.04 repos and, helpfully, ships with Flathub and the System76 Flatpak repos enabled out-of-the-box for a huge selection of extra software – including a growing set of third-party COSMIC apps!
Besides the new COSMIC desktop, it offers:
- Hybrid graphics support – automatic and manual options
- Support for full disk encryption
- New “Refresh” feature to reinstall the OS but keep files, settings, apps, etc
- Better hardware support
Preinstalled software still includes Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, GNOME System Monitor, the Popsicle USB creator, disk utility, scanning tool, etc.
Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS with COSMIC will be preinstalled on laptops and desktops sold by System76 from here on, but anyone can download and install it the distro on a supported device: download an ISO from the System76 downloads page, then flash n’ boot from it.
The standard download is ~2.76GB, while the NVIDIA-optimised image is a bit bigger.
Notable, Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS is available for ARM too, although this only officially supported on the company’s (pricey if powerful) Thelio Astra desktop. Your mileage, so often the case with Linux ARM support, may vary…
- Learning “Yeah, tried using {$thing} and it didn’t work” is as valuable as knowing what did work. ↩︎
- At the time of writing 24.04.3 LTS ships with Linux 6.14 on its ISO, although Linux 6.17 will be available to install in the coming weeks as the next HWE, back porting the kernel from 25.10, rolls out. Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS is out in January for those wanting it on the ISO. ↩︎
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