Pop!_OS 20.10 - Full Review

System76 recently released the latest version of their popular Linux distribution, Pop!_OS 20.10. In this review, I go over what you can expect from the latest version and share my thoughts. We'll take a look at the new features (and more).

📖 Check out jay's latest book, Mastering Ubuntu Server 3rd Edition.
Available in the USA late December 2020, and in other countries early January 2021

🙌 Support me on Patreon and get early access to new content!

🛒 Affiliate store for Linux compatible hardware/accessories (commission earned):

💻 Check out the Tiny Pilot KVM for your Homelab (commission earned):

🐦 Follow me on Twitter!

👨 More about me:

💽 How to create a bootable flash drive for installing Linux

🐧 Which distro do I use?

🔐 How to better secure OpenSSH:

☁️ How to create a cloud Linux server with Linode:

[tskjesusfreak]

I like it when content creators sponsor themselves.

[ryancummins]

Just loaded PO OS 20.10 last night and looking forward to playing with it. I am not a Linux newbie but it has been a long time since finances and time have afforded me the luxury of having a dedicated Linux computer since 2009.

[birchtree]

I wish System76 would add some new wallpapers for each release, just to keep things fresh and give each release a clear identity

[ZacTBH]

just installed Pop OS, got wine and lutris and protondb, works just like windows. It feels a lot more snappy and not bogged down with freeware, I've used windows only because it was familiar, finally decided to jump ship, I'm liking it so far even though I'm not 100% used to it yet.

[heberdua]

Truth be told, when Ubuntu 20.04 came out, I couldn't even get it to run properly on my Ryzen 5 2600, I think it had something to do with my Nvidia Gpu. I went looking for another Distro and decided to try Pop Os and it worked flawlessly on day one. I have been using it ever since. I 'm running Pop Os 20.10 right now, and It's running flawlessly.

[josephdegarmo]

If you install KDE on Pop!_OS 20.10, you will get the KDE versions backported from Kubuntu 20.10, which means you get Plasma 5.19.5 and Qt 5.14.2.

[maartenc]

I am running Pop!_OS on my asus tuf fx505 because Pop!_OS has great hybrid video support. My laptop has a vega integrated gpu and an nvidia 1650 and Pop!_OS worked the best.
But with 20.04 I always had problems with my video when running on battery.
Pop!_OS 20.10 seems to have solved this problem. So yes I highly recommend Pop!_OS with this laptop.
On my desktop I prefer Kubuntu 20.04 because I really love KDE.
Wished Pop!_OS would use KDE. And yes I know KDE can be used with Pop!_OS, but many features like switching graphics-card is better supported in Gnome on Pop!_OS. You can do this by terminal, but I prefer doing it in de desktop environment. And maybe I learn to love Gnome as well.

[ronaaron]

Important note: those of use who've experienced system freezes under 20.04, should upgrade to 20.10. It comes with kernel 5.8 which apparently fixes the (rather frequent) system freezes. Since upgrading, my (Oryx Pro) hasn't frozen once.

[ashishpatel]

20.10 is insanely ram efficient. Don't know if that's gnome update or an Ubuntu one but it's alot lighter than 20.04

[landlocked]

I agree with Ishaan R D below, and I just installed it last night so time will tell, really looking forward to it. Thanks for the video, nicely done.

[naetuir]

'tallica!! Also, thanks for the demo. Good stuff. :)

[SPDATA]

I installed POP!_OS 20.10 on my T450s and it works like a charm. Even installed KDE PLASMA on it...

[rajeevkumria]

I tried Pop OS on an ancient laptop with Cor2 Duo 4gib ram made for XP Dell Vostro 1310. I must say that even compared to my favorite Linux Mint 20, Pop is smoother with less lags. Browser performance is pretty good. I had also tried Lubuntu 20 and it was pathetic.

[novelmartinez]

17:00 have these two Components different colors or am a getting color blind?

[AnzanHoshinRoshi]

Thank you, Jay. Great video about a great release.

[joshharding]

Some of the features displayed in your video are awesome. Tabulated apps, that is cool... very cool! I also really liked the tiled layout and often find myself resizing app windows to as close to the screen edge as I can, less a few pixels (no idea why, I just like an almost maximized window... weird, I know). I REALLY like how System76 has the Linux gamer in mind. I just re-imaged my HP Elitebook 8460p (16g RAM, i7 CPU, 2 x 1Tb SSD's) with Ubuntu Legacy Server 20.04 then added Ubuntu Desktop (Gnome) which is the standard way I've run the machine for about the last 7 years. 1st game off Steam is ALWAYS Portal2. It's the only game I've spent any real time on in about the last 5 years (although I'm seriously thinking about building a Windows 10 lightweight gaming rig to run uBoat off Steam as I am a big SH3 fan also). For the first time since I changed up from Debian to Ubuntu, I'm now thinking about changing up from Ubuntu to Pop!_OS... however the Elitebook 2 x 1Tb SSD's I config in Software RAID using Ubuntu Server (not Live Server)... Sometimes I wish all the Debian forks developers would pool their super collective brilliant minds and bring their desktops to good old-fashioned "Tasksel". If I could install this 'desktop' on my Lappy with "Tasksel", it would have installed before I'd finished watching your video, which was excellent also by the way. +1 on the Subscribe button from me!!!

[little_forest]

I am still puzzled about the stacking feature. It basically introduces the functionality of a so called old school panel and on the other hand makes the so called modern workflow of gnome moot, in parts. So isn’t the stacking feature a contradiction if you want to use gnome for what gnome is special for?

[benjiPR]

Great video and awesome detailed information! 👌🏻

[AlexAlex-emct]

Pop OS 20.04 is awesome. I don't need to upgrade. Your content video is also great.

[erickleefeld]

So basically, a Pop OS interim release becomes a sort of quasi-rolling release for new features, but they’ll eventually get backported to the LTS version once they’ve been tested enough with the early adopters?