System76, a company specializing in the production of laptops, PCs and servers shipped with Linux, has published the release of the Pop!_OS 22.04 distribution. Pop!_OS is based on the Ubuntu 22.04 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 and ARM64 architectures for NVIDIA (3.2 GB) and Intel/AMD (2.6 GB) graphics chips. Builds for Raspberry Pi 4 boards are delayed.
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.
The distribution comes with a COSMIC desktop based on a modified GNOME Shell and a set of original GNOME Shell add-ons, its own theme, its own set of icons, other fonts (Fira and Roboto Slab) and changed settings. Unlike GNOME, COSMIC continues to use a split view for navigating open windows and installed applications. 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 the future, the developers intend to transform COSMIC into a self-sufficient project that does not use GNOME Shell and is developed in Rust. The first alpha release of the new COSMIC is slated for early summer.
Among the changes in Pop!_OS 22.04:
- The transition to the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS package database has been made. The Linux kernel has been updated to version 5.16.19, and Mesa to the 22.0 branch. The COSMIC desktop is synchronized with GNOME 42.
- The "OS Upgrade & Recovery" panel provides the ability to enable automatic update installation mode. The user can determine on which days and at what time to install updates automatically. The mode applies to packages in deb, Flatpak and Nix formats. By default, automatic updates are disabled and the user is shown a notification about the availability of updates once a week (you can set the display every day or once a month in the settings).
- A new support panel has been proposed, accessible from the bottom of the configurator menu. The panel provides resources for solving common problems, such as links to hardware setup articles, support chat, and the ability to generate logs to help analyze the problem.
- In the settings, it became possible to separately assign desktop wallpaper for dark and light themes.
- The System76 Scheduler provides support for improving performance by prioritizing the application in the active window. Improved processor frequency regulation mechanism (cpufreq governor), adjusting the CPU operation parameters to the current load.
- Improved the interface and server part of the Pop!_Shop application catalog. Added a section with a list of recently added and updated programs. The interface layout is optimized for small windows. Improved reliability of batch operations. Show installed NVIDIA proprietary drivers.
- The transition to the use of the PipeWire multimedia server for sound processing has been made.
- Improved support for multi-monitor configurations and screens with high pixel density.
- Screens for displaying confidential information are supported, for example, some laptops are equipped with screens with a built-in confidential viewing mode, which makes it difficult to view from outside.
- For remote work, the RDP protocol is enabled by default.
Source: opennet.ru