System76's Cosmic Desktop debuts with Linux distribution Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS, first alpha coming soon

Already with Pop!_OS 21.04, System76 delivered a relatively heavily customised version of the well-known Gnome desktop environment as Cosmic Desktop in 2021. The changes were triggered by communication problems between System76 and the Gnome developers, as well as a general dissatisfaction with the future development of the Gnome desktop.

As both Pop!_OS 21.04 LTS and 22.04 LTS are still based on Gnome, the System76 team had to limit themselves to Gnome extensions, which, according to Pop!_OS developer Michael Murphy, "felt like a hack". So in late 2021, they began in-house development of the new Cosmic Desktop in the Rust programming language.

The developers at System76 have now announced that the new Cosmic Desktop with Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS will be released later this year. A first alpha version of the Cosmic Desktop based on Rust will also be released shortly. With Ubuntu 24.04 LTS scheduled for release in April 2024, Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS could be released as early as May this year.

Although System76 wrote in a blog post a few days ago that a screenshot tool, on-screen displays (OSDs), floating window tab groups, the Cosmic Text framework and screen and wallpaper settings have been completed, there is still a lot of work to be done by the development team. For example, the Cosmic Terminal, Cosmic Editor, Tiling applet and input device settings are still to be finalised.

Nevertheless, the new Cosmic Desktop already looks like an exciting alternative to Linux desktop classics such as KDE and Gnome. If you are still looking for a Linux-compatible Lenovo laptop, take a look at the Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 (buy here at Lenovo US).