System76, a company specializing in the production of laptops, PCs and servers shipped with Linux, has published the release of the Pop!_OS 21.04 distribution. Pop!_OS is based on the Ubuntu 21.04 package base and comes with its own COSMIC desktop environment. The developments of the project are distributed under the GPLv3 license. ISO images are generated for the x86_64 architecture for NVIDIA (2.8 GB) and Intel/AMD (2.4 GB) graphics chips.
The distribution is primarily aimed at people who use a computer to create something new, such as developing content, software products, 3D models, graphics, music, or scientific work. The idea to develop their own edition of the Ubuntu distribution came after Canonical's decision to move Ubuntu from Unity to GNOME Shell - the developers of System76 started creating a new GNOME-based design theme, but then realized that they were ready to offer users a different desktop environment that provides flexible tools for customizing to the current working environment. process.
Prior to the release of Pop!_OS 21.04, the distribution came with a modified GNOME Shell, a set of original GNOME Shell add-ons, its own theme, its own set of icons, other fonts (Fira and Roboto Slab), changed settings, and an expanded set of drivers. With the release of Pop!_OS 21.04, the modified GNOME desktop was replaced by a new COSMIC (Computer Operating System Main Interface Components) user environment, which is developed under the GPLv3 license.
COSMIC continues to leverage GNOME technologies, but distinguishes itself by making conceptual changes and deeper desktop overhauls that go beyond the GNOME Shell add-ons. During the development of COSMIC, such goals were set as the desire to make the desktop easier to use, expand functionality and increase work efficiency by customizing the environment to your preferences.
Instead of the unified horizontal navigation of virtual desktops and applications in the Overview mode (Activities Overview) that appeared in GNOME 40, COSMIC continues to separate views for navigating desktops / open windows and installed applications (Workspaces and Applications sections). A split view allows you to access a selection of applications in one click, and a simpler design will allow you not to distract attention from visual clutter.
For window manipulation, both the traditional mouse control mode, familiar to beginners, and the tiled window layout mode, which allows you to control the work using only the keyboard, are provided. In tile mode, you can also use the mouse to rearrange docked windows by clicking and dragging the window to the desired location. At the first start, an initial setup wizard is offered, which allows you to choose the most optimal desktop behavior and design for yourself.
For example, you can choose where the application bar appears (bottom, top, right, or left), size (full screen width or not), auto-hide, and control the placement of icons for desktops, open windows, or selected applications. In the panel, you can enable or disable the buttons for calling the interfaces for navigating open windows and applications, move widgets with the clock and the notification area to the upper left or right corner, set up a handler call that displays the application launcher when you move the mouse pointer to the upper left corner of the screen.
When you press the Super key, the default launch of the Launcher interface is provided, which makes it possible to launch applications, execute arbitrary commands, calculate mathematical expressions (for example, you can enter β=2 + 2β), go to certain sections of the configurator and switch between already running programs. The built-in search bar allows you to press Super and immediately start typing a mask to select the desired program, search for files or search for content on a specific site. If desired, you can change the binding of the Super key to other actions, such as opening desktop and application navigation.
For control, in addition to hot keys, it is possible to use control gestures on the trackpad. For example, a four-finger tap to the right launches the application navigation interface, to the left shows a list of open windows, and up/down switches to another virtual desktop. When moving with a touch of three fingers, switching between open windows is performed.
Among the features of the new release, it is also noted the possibility of optional placement of the buttons for minimizing and expanding the window (only the minimize button is shown by default), support for updating the βrecoveryβ disk partition through the standard configurator, a new algorithm for determining relevance when searching for programs, a system of plug-ins to expand search capabilities in the Launcher .
Source: opennet.ru