Few days ago System76, the company known for its Pop!_OS distribution, announced the release of the seventh alpha version from your desktop environment COSMICThis new release brings with it a series of improvements in both features and visuals that position COSMIC as one of the most interesting and modern offerings within the Linux ecosystem.
One of the highlights of this new alpha is the manipulation of virtual desktops. NowUsers can rearrange desktops or move them to another screen simply using drag and drop with the mouse. In addition, a built-in desk fixing function, which allows you to keep a specified number of desktops open, even if they do not contain active windows, providing finer control over your workflow.
Improvements, optimizations, and new features in COSMIC Alfa 7
COSMIC Alpha 7 arrives with various improvements in the visual experience, adding tooltips that appear on hover above key elements such as the taskbar, virtual desktops, the application catalog, and the application menu, thus improving accessibility and understanding of the available functions.
As for the management of key combinations, COSMIC Alfa 7 introduces Global shortcuts that allow you to execute actions in X11 applicationsTo protect your privacy, this option is disabled by default, but you can enable it with settings that restrict its activation to pressing modifier keys such as Ctrl, Shift, or Alt.
Optimized fractional scaling and new display options
Have been added Fractional scaling settings for X11 applications running under XWayland, offering modes like “Optimize for Apps,” which improves the quality of programs that don’t support native fractional scaling, and “Optimize for Games and Full-Screen Apps,” where apps can run at the actual screen resolution, independent of overall scaling.
In addition to this, the Improvements to desktop and window switching behavior: When using Super+arrow keys, the system keeps the current tab visible as long as the Super key is held down. Also Priority has been given to navigation between virtual desktops within a screen before moving to another screen. Desktop cycling has been implemented, allowing you to return to the first desktop after reaching the last.
New shortcuts as Super+Shift+arrows allow switch between screensAlt+Super+arrows moves focus to another screen, and even more specific combinations, like Shift+Alt+Super+arrows, move windows between monitors. Additionally, to zoom in or out on the desktop, you can now use the Super+ and Super- combinations.
File manager improvements
El file manager in COSMIC has also received significant improvements. Now supports preemptive input in the address bar: When you type the first letter of a file or folder, the system automatically suggests matches.
Also added was the option to open files with a single click, new shortcuts for switching between grid and list views, and the ability to edit directory paths simply by clicking on them. Another new feature is the "Open Folder" dialog box, which makes it easier to extract files directly to specific directories.
More control in sound, accessibility and performance
Page Sound settings now allow you to adjust the audio balance between the left and right channels, improving auditory personalization.
As far as accessibility is concerned, COSMIC Alfa 7 incorporates new options as a high contrast mode, color inversion, color blind filters, and the ability to combine audio channels for users with hearing impairments. The tool for enlarging areas of the screen has also been improved, making visual navigation more inclusive.
On a technical level, optimizations have been made to various components to reduce CPU usage, resulting in a more responsive and efficient experience.
New details on applications
This version introduces Support for new Wayland protocols , the ext-workspace-v1 and ext-image-capture-v1, as well as for the protocol itself cosmic-workspace-v2, which allows for deeper integration between COSMIC and the Wayland graphics server.
It has also been implemented localization of program names, making COSMIC even more accessible to users of different languages. In the networking section, the connection applet now supports EAP and PEAP authentication, improving compatibility with enterprise and secure networks.
The player COSMIC Media Player has received a aesthetic improvement: You can now hide the track title when the mouse remains idleIn addition, the option to define a backup font has been added, improving the system's visual appearance in the absence of some fonts.
Finally, if you are interested in trying out the environment COSMIC desktop, Two Pop!_OS ISO images are offered with COSMIC, designed for systems with NVIDIA GPUs (3.3 GB) or only for systems with Intel or AMD processors (2.9 GB) These images are based on a test version of the Pop!_OS 24.04 distribution.
If you want to install COSMIC on other distributions, you can refer to the detailed installation instructions found here. In the following link. To learn more about COSMIC and its features, you can access the full details In the following link.