After several months of work and several alpha versions, System76 has finally announced officially the launch of the beta version of COSMIC, its new desktop environment developed entirely in Rust, marking a new stage in the evolution of the Linux ecosystem.
It is worth mentioning that Along with this release, the beta version of Pop!_OS 24.04 has also been released., the Ubuntu-based distribution that incorporates this environment by default for the first time. Although the stable release of COSMIC was planned for the first quarter of 2025, development took longer than expected, and finally, more than a year after the first alpha, the project has reached its long-awaited beta phase.
What's new in the COSMIC beta?
One of the most notable features is its window organization system, that combines multi-window, tile and stack modesIn tiled mode, windows are automatically arranged in a grid, while in stacked mode, they are grouped like browser tabs. These modes can be combined to provide a smooth and efficient experience, especially useful in multitasking workflows.
In addition to this, now the Main panel allows you to manage active windows, shortcuts and independent appletsUsers can divide it into sections (top, bottom, or side) and customize it with transparency, light, or dark styles, as well as configure a different layout for each virtual desktop.
With the release of this beta version, the environment incorporates extensive customization options, with support for light and dark themes, dynamic virtual desktop configuration, and an application launcher that integrates searching, categorizing, and quick program launch.
COSMIC includes a suite of proprietary applications, replacing the traditional GNOME tools. Now, The system uses COSMIC Files (file manager with gallery view), COSMIC Terminal, COSMIC Text Editor and COSMIC Media Player, the latter with Vulkan rendering and VAAPI video decoding. For software installation, the new COSMIC Store replaces Pop!_Shop, offering a more consistent experience with the design of the environment.
The system configurator allows you to adjust everything from the appearance and layout of the panel to parameters such as language, sound, power, Bluetooth, and network connections. Every aspect of the environment can be tailored to provide a more comfortable and personalized experience.
Wayland, Vulkan, and Advanced Hardware Support
The graphic component of COSMIC, Cosmic-Comp, is based on Wayland, ensuring greater stability and performance compared to previous X11-based implementations. This composite server includes support for VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), a feature that dynamically adjusts the monitor’s refresh rate, resulting in a smoother experience when playing videos or video games.
Of the other changes that stand out:
- Starting with Google Chrome version 140, no configuration is required for Wayland. For versions prior to 140 and other outdated Chrome-based browsers, ozone-platform-hint does not need to be configured. Go to chrome://flags in a tab, search for ozone-platform-hint, and change the setting to "automatic." Restart the browser.
- Some games may launch partially off-screen. Press F11 or Super+F11 to view the game in full screen (Goat Simulator is an example).
- Hotkeys for switching between screens or on-screen displays are not yet supported.
- The COSMIC Store does not currently display Flatpak-suggested add-ons for applications. This is planned for the release candidate.
- Accessibility: Screen readers may not be able to read all widgets in COSMIC apps, or may read them in an unintuitive way.
- Some app indicators do not appear in the notification tray applet.
- Currently, switching to an app using its app indicator does not work.
- Printing support is planned for the COSMIC text editor.
Download and try COSMIC beta
The Pop!_OS 24.04-Beta ISO images are now available for systems with NVIDIA (3.1 GB) and Intel/AMD (2.7 GB) GPUs, giving users the opportunity to try out this new environment.
In addition, COSMIC beta packages will be available soon for distributions such as Fedora, NixOS, Arch Linux, openSUSE, Serpent OS, Redox and CachyOS, demonstrating its commitment to compatibility and collaboration with the Linux community.