POP!_OS 21.04 COSMIC desktop review

This is a review of the official POP!_OS 21.04 Beta with the new COSMIC desktop sent to me by the good folks over at System76. The COSMIC desktop brings a wide range of flexibility to how you can fully customize your desktop to optimize your workflow!

The official release for 21.04 is in June, so keep an eye out for it, and cheers to the System76 crew for giving me the chance to test out what they're working on!

00:00 Intro
00:47 Installation
01:31 Settings
02:21 Tiling
04:57 Desktop Settings
07:44 Appearance
07:51 Dock
09:26 Workspaces
11:11 COSMIC Style!
12:15 Pop Shop
13:11 The most important part!

#Linux #PopOS #Cosmic

[lrobuck]

Dorian, I really like the way you reviewed the Pop beta. Even though Pop 20.10 is my daily driver, I found your review informative and well worth my time. I find many "distro" reviews to be "more of the same". You have a very good voice and your video quality is spot on. Thanks for doing this.

[somegeezer]

Appreciate the way you demonstrated all the new features instead of just chatting about them. A great introduction for people that aren't familiar with POP!_OS.

[philwolf]

I'm studying for the Linux LPI essentials exam right now and your videos are super helpful about Linux. Thank you so much for this video. I decided to install pop OS due to a video I saw on another channel but your explanation was so much more detailed and helpful.

[Bonezr]

I've been a Windows user for decades, but dreaded the switch from 7 to 10 for privacy reasons mainly. And then 11 was announced and it's even worse. About a month ago, after watching a Linus Tech Tips video where they recommended Pop, I decided to give it a try on an old laptop I had lying around. It does work out of the box, although the different environment takes some getting used to and I need to get familiar with the commands. But channels like this one are a great help.

[podunkis]

I've never tried Pop!_OS, but your review highlights some really impressive features. I think the accessible integration of features like tiling is quite cool. I definitely have times where I'd like to use tiling, but I don't want to have to switch to another UI. Nice review, too. I like that you go into some detail without getting bogged down. I'm subscribing.

[RodrigoDAgostino]

Thanks a lot, mate! That was a really interesting review to watch :)

[dstinnettmusic]

The ability to move the clock is a big pet peeve of mine in stock Gnome, so when my System76 Gazelle arrives I am excited to test out different configurations.

[RedFenceAnime]

This looks so good!
This is pretty much flagship linux.

[AlexD-X]

Pop OS is good stuff! When I delved into Linux a year ago, this was my first distro and I still use it! Looking forward to the next version. Thanks for the preview!

[estudiordl]

Looking gooood. Long time mint mate user here, i always put i3 as optional. I really want to try this now 😄

[sarmadka]

Very nice. System76 are filling in the gaps that Gnome devs are leaving behind.

[timgore]

Very nice overview. I wish this early preview was available to the public.

[NozomiAceGaymer]

I wanted to try gnome for his gnome customized shell...but this Cosmic desktop doesn't amaze me really well. If they didn't transformed the dock on the down and they wouldn't enlarged it like in Windows/KDE...it would be awesome. Hope I could still install the old GNOME Shell with the tiling option

[manic]

I’ve tried running PopOS a few times and in general I think it’s wonderful, however I have a persistent problem with it where my computer just refuses to shut down properly when running it. I also have yet to find a remote desktop utility that is as reliable as Remote Desktop for my work (though I’m sure that’s a me problem) the new cosmic desktop looks really nice

[meliodas.]

Good one . Thanks for showing it to us : )

[LucianC]

Pop OS is my go to recommendation for new linux users, it literally does everything perfectly...gaming, productivity, programming...you name it.

[RabbitChannel]

I have tried GNOME 40 in Fedora, but after few hours I have switched back to POP OS, because I'm used to vertical workspaces and It would be great for me if POP OS won't switch to GNOME 40 or at least have option for users to choose which version of GNOME they want (The same they did for Nvidia drivers)

[wojtekburzynski]

I'm really looking forward to it. Setting up even "easy" window manager like Qtile is such a pain compared to just installing distro with DE.

[fabianrr]

Hello, how to drag and drop videos on VLC, mpv, etc..?

[ivanhoe]

When I read about COSMIC my first thought was "Cmon, we don't need the 11th DE", ut I must admit that after watching your video, I am intrigued! Never tried Pop OS, nor used tiling WM, but I definitely will give both a try whenever a public beta will be available!