During almost two years of development of the COSMIC project from System76 (the developer of the “Pop!_OS” Linux distribution), We share here on the blog part of the follow-up of the development of this and now I am pleased to be able to share with you the latest news-
And it was made known through a blog post about the release of the first alpha version dthe COSMIC desktop environment, written in Rust (not to be confused with the old COSMIC, which was based on GNOME Shell).
The release of this alpha version marks the completion of development of the core feature set of the environment and promotes it as a work product suitable for daily use that will serve as a basis for refining the final functionality and improving usability, taking into account the feedback received from users. Distributions have the opportunity to create custom variants of COSMIC, provided with their own color scheme, applets, settings and theme.
Main news of COSMIC alpha
The alpha version of COSMIC arrives with a large number of changes and different innovations, among which The "Customizable Panel" stands out which includes a list of active windows, shortcuts for applications and applets (applications integrated into separate processes). The panel can be divided into parts, such as the top part with menus and indicators and the bottom part with a list of active tasks and shortcuts. It can be placed vertically or horizontally, fill the entire width of the screen or a selected area, use transparency, and switch between light and dark layouts. Additionally, it can be configured separately for each virtual desktop.
Another novelty that this alpha version of COSMIC presents is the automatic window tiling. Auto Tile Feature Align and arrange new windows on the screen according to a grid. A quick window replacement mode is also offered using the “Super + X” (Windows + X) shortcut, which allows you to move a window by holding down the cursor keys. Classic and tiled window layouts can be combined and enabled depending on the virtual desktop.
In addition to that, fixing and windows is another of the noveltiess, as it offers a stackable window pinning mode similar to browser tabs and an always-on window mode, which allows you to keep the window visible on all virtual desktops.
On the other hande Theme customization allows the user to customize design themes, choose between dark and light modes, save settings for use on other systems, and browse a collection of desktops.
Also includes an application menu, an interface for switching between windows and desktops virtual, a search system, a calculator, a dialog box to execute commands, and several indicators to control the keyboard, multimedia, volume, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, notifications, time and the screen off.
The modularization of the configurator allows add modules to configure sound, accounts, language, window manager, network devices, Bluetooth, offline operation, tools for people with disabilities, manage updates and choose applications for specific types of files.
Of the other characteristics that this COSMIC alpha presents:
- Application Library: Group programs by topic to facilitate management.
- Basic Applications: Includes a file manager, a text editor, a terminal emulator, and an application installation manager.
- Configurator: Allows you to change the settings of the panel, desktop, background images, input devices, display and power consumption modes.
As for Future plans that are on the table for future versions:
- Deploy a dedicated application for initial system configuration.
- Expand the capabilities of the file manager.
- Incorporate facilities for people with disabilities.
- Integrate a calendar-scheduler (evolution-data-server).
- Improve control over moving windows between desktops.
- Improve animation effects.
- Add support for DPMS (to turn off the screen), VRR (variable refresh rate), translucent background, HDR and Night Light mode.
Finally If you are interested in trying this desktop environment, you should know that two ISO images of Pop!_OS with COSMIC are offered, for systems with NVIDIA GPU NVIDIA GPU ( 3 GB ) and Intel/AMD ( 2.6 GB ). These images are built based on a test version of the Pop!_OS 24.04 distribution.
Interested in knowing more about it, you can check the details In the following link.