Pop!_OS 24.04 review: Was the two-year wait for COSMIC Desktop worth it?

Learn Linux TV walks through the new COSMIC Desktop and the features that make this a popular Linux desktop.

Building a desktop environment from scratch sounds impossible. Canonical tried with Unity 8 and abandoned the project. Yet System76 just shipped the first production-ready version of COSMIC Desktop in Pop!_OS 24.04, written entirely in Rust while simultaneously running a hardware business. In this video from Learn Linux TV, you’ll learn whether this ambitious desktop replacement delivers on its promise and if the two-year wait was worth it.

Jay walks through everything Pop!_OS 24.04 brings to the table, starting with the installation process and diving deep into COSMIC Desktop’s features. The new environment keeps everything users loved about the heavily customized GNOME setup, automatic window tiling, powerful app launcher accessible with the super key, dynamic workspaces, and extensive customization options, but now it’s built on a foundation that System76 controls completely. 

He demonstrates panel and dock customization, showing how you can adjust transparency, position, size, and individual applets. The review addresses the elephant in the room: Pop!_OS 24.04 is based on Ubuntu 24.04 from last year. Jay explains why this doesn’t actually matter, thanks to backported kernels for modern hardware support, ongoing security updates from the LTS base, and Flatpak integration for current applications.

Key takeaways

1. COSMIC Desktop nails the fundamentals: Fast performance, automatic tiling, customizable panels and docks, and extensive keyboard shortcuts make it immediately productive without sacrificing polish.
2. The Ubuntu 24.04 base isn’t a problem: Backported kernels provide modern hardware support, LTS means continued security patches, and Flatpak handles application freshness.
3. Customization runs deep: Adjust window highlight colors and thickness, panel transparency, dock positioning and auto-hide, workspace display modes, and individual applet placement without touching config files.

System76 pulled off what most companies can’t: Shipping a brand new desktop environment that works. Pop!_OS 24.04 proves you don’t need to compromise between innovation and stability. Whether you’re a developer wanting powerful tiling, a gamer needing the NVIDIA-optimized version, or someone who just wants a thoughtfully designed Linux desktop, COSMIC delivers. The wait was long, but the result speaks for itself.

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