System76 Unveils COSMIC as Their GNOME-Based Desktop Environment for Pop!_OS Linux

COSMIC

Linux hardware vendor System76 announced today that they’re working on their own, in-house built desktop environment for Pop!_OS Linux, called COSMIC, based on the GNOME desktop environment.

System76 are well known for their Linux-powered laptops and desktops, but they’re also famous for Pop!_OS Linux, the company’s in-house built Ubuntu-based distribution that ships pre-installed on all of their computers.

Until now, Pop!_OS Linux featured the GNOME desktop environment, with various customizations and improvements from System76. But this is about to change with the next major release of their distribution, Pop!_OS Linux 21.04, due out in June 2021.

The Linux hardware vendor is now developing their own desktop environment based on GNOME, called COSMIC, which aims to provide a totally different desktop experience than GNOME.

System76’s COSMIC will feature an always visible dock, as well as separate Workspaces and Applications views. While from the Workspaces view you can see your running apps and switch between them, the Applications view gives you distraction-free access to all your installed apps with a slick new dark background.

As expected, users will be able to move the dock wherever they want on the desktop, and they will also be able to activate the launcher with the Super key to launch or switch between apps or run commands, as well as to choose between mouse-driven or keyboard-driven workflows.

“It’s a refined solution that makes the desktop easier to use, yet more powerful and efficient for our users through customization,” said System76. “The new designs are developed from extensive testing and user feedback since the Pop!_OS 20.04 release.”

More details about COSMIC are available on System76’s blog. Until we’ll be able to get our hands on the real thing, below is a mockup video of how COSMIC will look and feel like in Pop!_OS Linux 21.04, which will be based on the upcoming Ubuntu 21.04 (Hirsute Hippo) operating system.

Image credits: System76

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