Cosmic Desktop on Pop!_OS - In Depth Review of Alpha 3

[@SavvyNik]

Are you excited for Cosmic?

[@Parsast]

Yeah!

[@antinatalope]

My main concern is their tensions with the Linux kernel developers.

[@KingKrouch]

It looks good, but I wish they'd work on the taskbar a bit more (the clock looks ugly when you have a Windows-esque taskbar).

[@Mik3l24]

Yeah, that may be the only desktop that would ever make me consider switching off Gnome (my current fav).

[@roccociccone597]

yes but I am waiting for it to be finished. I've tried the various alphas and it's promising

[@ForceGamerrr]

I'm actually excited for Cosmic, especially so to see Rust in action on quite a big project like this

[@bobbybyrne1899]

It is optional. You can also change the colour of it, if you are just concerned about the blue.

[@ForceGamerrr]

@@bobbybyrne1899 yeah I realized that pretty quickly and edited my comment!

[@SavvyNik]

@@ForceGamerrr the theming is going to be great

[@roccociccone597]

@@bobbybyrne1899 I still thing they need to overhaul the theme... It doesn't look very polished.

[@esra_erimez]

@@roccociccone597 I think cosmos is very customizable

[@esra_erimez]

As a life long KDE user, COSMIC is the first desktop environment that I'm interested in other than KDE

[@willi1978]

Same for me. But I am on gnome

[@Cyco_Nix]

While I moved from Gnome to KDE as KDE is just ahead of Gnome in the graphics side, I am looking forward to seeing where Cosmic goes. It has a ways to go, but from what I have seen in my testing in Alpha, I think it has a bright future. It is not just another hacked together fork of Gnome/GTK like Cinnamon or Budgie, it is something from scratch.

[@woswasdenni1914]

thats actually so important on this thing. finally a rewrite no more 20+year old codebase and very important - independent from OSI to much microsoft and apple in OSI. i rather have a commercial entity that has own self interrest in linux behind that projects than a so called non profit that serves microsoft

[@Kermit2k]

Just fell to my knees in a Walmart when I saw desktop icons.

[@SavvyNik]

Haha 🤣

[@esaedvik]

Never see them anyways, so I'd disable them :D

[@manuel.7461]

4:13 Im pretty shure that the the feature you're asking for is suppost to be the bottom panel you previously showed off at 2:49.

[@jonnyspeed8974]

wow! desktop icons. so future.

[@hadockzin]

I heckin' love COSMIC

[@techzone2009]

I love default gnome. Almost no extension 😊. It is very beautiful 👍

[@MrAlanCristhian]

I'm better «gnomer» than you, I'm have zero extensions 🙃

[@no_name4796]

If only gnome implemented features everyone uses. Such as titlebars. Or system tray icons

[@fossface]

@@no_name4796 Honestly the only real problem I have with Gnome is the fact you can't have the top bar on all screens, unless you use an extension. Which is usually janky.

[@halilibrahimkisakesen546]

I love the earlier versions of gnome.

[@davebassi7340]

Only Ubuntu 's version of gnome is worthy of mention.

[@n.m4497]

Wayland just finished 2 more protocols today. Session Restore and HDR are almost done too.

[@Priimerra]

Great video. Nice to see someone instaling something on metal to make video.

[@stupidburp]

I appreciate the progress on Cosmic but I will keep waiting.

[@alexstone691]

I hope it stabilizes well and plays well with other desktops as i am sure i want to try it cause optional tilling seems awesome

[@SavvyNik]

can't wait to see it available on even more distros as well

[@BunnyKhatri-pd8zm]

​@@SavvyNik arch added yes

[@Winnetou17]

Regarding the "duplication" details side panel at 2:55, I'm quite sure that the side one shows you ALL operations, while the bottom one only shows you the CURRENT operation. When you have just one, it will show the same thing, of course. Try installing more programs at once! And I guess it will show the updates (when not done from the command line) there too ?

[@antinatalope]

The whole point of the desktop metaphor is that you can use it like a physical desk. If you can't put files and folders on your desk, it defeats the metaphor. So that change is welcome.

[@kbhasi]

Yep! Especially considering that one of Ubuntu's modifications they did to GNOME was to enable desktop icons out of the box.

[@celdaemon]

Dunno, I prefer the desktop just being for windows

[@antinatalope]

@celdaemon Well, you can have that, but the whole metaphor of a desktop is to actually mirror a real desktop. That's why it's called a desktop.

[@mmstick]

@@celdaemon Every other OS-even Android-lets you place widgets and icons on the desktop. So every DE should support it out of the box.

[@halilibrahimkisakesen546]

I remember thousand files inside a folder named desktop, which contains another folder desktop and so on

[@Whatupdays]

I've been testing it out. The only thing that sticks out is issues with Bluetooth, both the mouse and two different sets of headphones. I can't wait for the beta and more features to be added.

[@CHNHBH]

Seeing the server side decorations alone is reassuring

[@DrCassone]

Good video! I would love a video on how to get Davinci working on POP_OS!

[@mathsDOTearth]

I am liking what I am seeing but it has a showstopper bug for me which has been reported by several people but as yet has not been fixed and my case was closed because it was similar to someone else's. Mine was issue 1067 which is basically if I turn my monitor off and back on again all my open applications die and close. This also happens if I switch inputs on my monitor which is very annoying because in my work I often switch between incompatible systems by switching my monitor to a different input. It does all work well on my System 76 laptop so not all bad news but my word the monitor switching bug is beyond annoying.

[@gljames24]

What was nice for me was that they added some more power features like screen dim and suspend which is great for my laptop. Still hoping to see low power warning and options for the power button instead of instantly shutting down, but it's progressing nicely. I want to help, but with the toolkits being unstable, I'm not sure how much I can help out til after the alpha.

[@mmstick]

There are low power warnings, but to see the notification you need to ensure do-not-disturb is not enabled, and to hear the notification you need to have the pop sound theme installed.

[@xavi_6767]

1:46 We noticed that pun, Nik.

[@SavvyNik]

haha damn thought I was more discreet than that :) I'll "resolve" this issue at some point

[@SpurGetreide54]

for the gallery preview, select a file -> press space

[@rcgamer]

Alpha 4 is out now.

[@Just_Add_Coffee]

Still on Pop. Waiting for quality of life things that I currently use GNOME extensions for to be implemented before switching.

[@iVideo1011]

Noobie here, in the new Cosmic are you able to launch apps similarly to the current LTS version? I really like pressing the super key and having that small launcher there, but it looks like there’s a much larger menu that appears in this version. Is the app launcher expected to be similar? Thanks :)

[@datapeluche]

How in hell they are developing that fast? Compared to unity 8 development, cosmic is advancing at a very fast pace.

[@mmstick]

A small team of Linux developers using Rust can accomplish a lot in a short time frame.

[@jimjam4real]

My beloved Ubuntu font... dissed...

[@SavvyNik]

haha

[@Vancha112]

Interestingly multimonitor setup has worked well for me for a while, but thats on 22.04 rather than 24.04. that in general has been a much more stable for me :o

[@JReuben111]

where are the dev docs for open-source contributors ?

[@cybernit3]

It looks a lot like Gnome; but the big question with the OS and this Cosmic DE loaded up how much memory does it take, like 2.6 GB ram? I just switched to KDE Plasma and it takes a few hundred megs less than Gnome.

[@aquacultural]

is this default desktop wallpaper? if it, where can i download? link pls

[@arciarcibald1508]

Is possible to install this on top of Fedora?

[@davebassi7340]

Apparently you can install cosmic desktop on distros

[@SirSomnolent]

I tried it a few weeks ago. Changed the auto 200 scale to something like 125% and locked up the entire system. Same when logging back in after restart. Obviously I could have hunted for that in .config to edit but I just went back to sway

[@johanb.7869]

No desktop icons for me. I prefer it clean. They are useless anyway because I have everything I use pinned on the panel. Still the old Thunderbird icon in the store🤔

[@OlTrailDog]

I started using Linux in '92. I eventually settled on Ubuntu for the last couple of decades or so. However, the last 'upgrade' from 22 to 24 in situ was a disaster. A clean install of 24 dual boot was also and repeatedly a disaster. Finally accomplished it on three computers. But I have found Ubuntu 24 the most unstable of all LInux I've tried as it repeatedly crashes out to a log in. I've tried Pop before, but didn't keep it. Perhaps I'd try it again...someday...because the multimonitor is crucial.

[@uncle_fword]

Early adopter? Because I've upgraded with no problems to 24.04.1

[@MrKoletz]

Why are the region and language settings blank? How can I fix this to change the keyboard layouts with the alt-shift keyboard shortcut?

[@mmstick]

You probably have a very old version of COSMIC. This is a feature of Alpha 4, and therefore not in a tagged release before Alpha 4.

[@alexeiboukirev8357]

For Logitech devices you need Solaar to pair. I do not think S76 is going to work on that.

[@mmstick]

Yeah Logitech receivers do not use Bluetooth.

[@rocksquared]

Can the new outline around the windows be set 2 pixels thick or disabled within settings? I really do not like how it looks with it. The look suddenly lost its modernity and purity feel.

[@SavvyNik]

Yes you can adjust the width

[@yurtlew2280]

You can turn it off as well

[@mmstick]

The active hint feature has been there since the GNOME Shell extensions.

[@guilherme5094]

👍

[@tschorsch]

I will give it a try when it's released, but I can't stand Gnome, so I hope it is quite different.

[@samuraijosh1595]

im looking for a DE that has good support touchpad gestures like windows

[@chris122380]

Cosmic desktop is missing scripts for the file manager, or at least I haven't been able to figure it out. In gnome I have a script created so I can right click on a PDF and convert it to a image file. I haven't figured out how to do this with cosmic yet

[@mmstick]

A PR for this would be welcomed

[@MrAlanCristhian]

Cosmic has the best store IMO.

[@nezunskyfire292]

I wonder if they broke sudo again. The previous Epoch my system was completely unusable as I could not do anything with admin privileges because sudo just refused to work.

[@SavvyNik]

I didn’t experience this issue as I could run the updates with sudo. As I did in the vid

[@mmstick]

I've never heard of anyone having issues with sudo. That would not be affected by the DE.

[@nezunskyfire292]

@@mmstick sudo worked on every other DE/Distro I've ever used, but failed several times on PopOS, I even have screenshots of it.

[@mmstick]

@@nezunskyfire292 As a Pop developer, I use Pop for developing Pop, and update daily. Not once have I ever seen an issue with sudo.

[@necuz]

It almost feels unfair to call Cosmic a desktop environment, since it isn't slow and clunky. I've been dailying it on a laptop with a Pentium 4405U (15W 2015 dual-core) and 8 GB RAM, even on there it feels just as snappy as a minimal Hyprland setup. I don't even mind installing Flatpaks, because their store app starts up fast and doesn't need to show any loading spinners.

[@mgord9518]

A DE doesn't have to be slow or clunky. A DE is just a collection of tools that create a cohesive desktop environment. LxQt is a DE and isn't slow and clunky. When you make a Hyprland setup, you essentially make your own DE

[@NiffirgkcaJ]

1:47 _Ba dum tiss!_ 😹

[@jp263]

Looks excellent but I'll probably stick to Xmonad

[@OlTrailDog]

Oh well, decided to give Pop/Cosmic a try on one of the former Ubuntu 24.04 computers. Liking it thus far. PS: get rid of the ! in the OS name.

[@WeiChei]

Alpha 4 released like 2 days after this video released lol.

[@bonfiters]

and then Alpha 4 dropped today lmao

[@SavvyNik]

lol I just saw that too… well something to look forward to this weekend I guess :)

[@nordern1]

"Not like Windows where you have to basically dive really deep into the system to change that type of folder setup" You mean the "Hidden files" checkbox in the Explorers View menu, same as here?

[@5mrd]

1 Panel > 2 Panels

[@siuksliukaralius7029]

The only thing i'm excited in Linux and open source in general is consistency. Which is non existent.

[@starkfuture1057]

The details view probably shows the r progress of individual installs - the bottom progress bar is the overall progress.

[@desvendandoornasaude4127]

On my computer gnome is still faster than cosmic

[@theONEjustin]

Does Firefox still hard crash it? 😂😂😂

[@ps3301]

Cosmic wont be ready for real production until 2027

[@nikunjkhangwal]

It's literally planned to release before mid 2025

[@pju28]

On the mini PC N100 I have sound settings problems if I choose 5.1 HDMI. Not all speakers works like subwoofer, center, left right rear. Only front left right on LTS 24.04

[@kakarroto007]

*Spoiler Alert* It's literally just GNOME, but written in rust.

[@raimg1816]

Also tested its feeling just like wery old gnome, UI for me is big no looks pretty bad in my opinion. Maybe for some it's great

[@FelixTheAnimator]

Ooo you got resolve (kinda) working

[@michaeljaques77]

I still get a random 8.5" external display that doesn't exist. Ironing out the edge cases, and the shear number of things the compositor/window maanger has to do and deal with both software and hardware display related is going to take S76 longer than they expect. I can honestly see it having serious limitations for at least six months, maybe as long as another year before it gets close to parity with what a lot of people expect for anything outside of the mainstream "normal."

[@RareSushi]

Are you on nvidia?

[@michaeljaques77]

@RareSushi yes. Nvidia GPU.

[@RareSushi]

@@michaeljaques77 enable the drm kernel mode setting fbdev if you haven't

[@callmesteve7874]

I'm pretty sure it will be solid DE in 5 years.

[@BunnyKhatri-pd8zm]

My bet is 2 years

[@lzcoder]

Seems good, but we all know Gnome is the leader 🎉🎉🎉

[@RYOkEkEN]

yesyesyes and Davinci 19? yesyesyes

[@mathsDOTearth]

and if System 76 really do read this, please please please make an ARM CPU Meerkat mini PC.

[@ps3301]

They don't have the resources to build it

[@mathsDOTearth]

@ps3301 was just a vague hope if they were going to make an ARM laptop it wouldn't take much more to make a Mini in parallel

[@anmol3457]

the toggle buttons are kind of ugly and 2010s ish don't you think?

[@jasontiller]

What’s the point? “RUST” is not a good enuff answer, thanks.

[@mgord9518]

Rust is not the reason people are excited about COSMIC lmfao. COSMIC is a "GNOME-like" DE that actually listens to its users and isn't designed for toddlers. GTK and GNOME are controlled by awful people, COSMIC is a completely new system that relies on NOTHING from them. That's what separates it from things like Cinnamon. COSMIC is fast, has easy tiling, competent tools and more without being reliant on existing systems with tons of legacy bloat. Is that a "good enuff" answer?

[@BunnyKhatri-pd8zm]

Avg gnome user cope.

[@jasontiller]

@@mgord9518 i’m confused. You don’t like gnome because of the people who run Norm? You want a gnome like experience, but one that doesn’t involve the gnome organization? Is that right?

[@mgord9518]

@@jasontiller I want a GNOME experience that doesn't involve bullshit. I want a desktop where they don't refuse to add thumbnails the file picker for 20 years. I want a desktop where they don't refuse to implement SSD or any basic support for other toolkits besides GTK. I want a GNOME experience that's actually customizable. COSMIC will deliver that experience.

[@jasontiller]

@@mgord9518 hey, if you don’t like, what’s out there, develop your own - that’s open source, baby. But I think it’s gonna be a long time before cosmic builds up the 30+ years of experience in history that gnome and GTK have same way for cute and plasma and KDE. They’ve got a lot of experience and many iterations to have figured some stuff out. I hope that cosmic is the next greatest desktop environment, but I’m not holding my breath.