System76, the developers of the Linux distribution Pop!_OS, have announced the release of the desktop environment COSMIC 1.7.0. The packages with COSMIC 1.7.0 are now available in the distribution kit Pop!_OS 24.04 and will soon be available in Fedora, NixOS, Arch Linux, openSUSE, Aeyrin OS, Redox, and CachyOS. The code is written in Rust and distributed under the GPLv3 (applications) and MPL-2.0 (libraries) licenses.
COSMIC is a universal project developed in compliance with Freedesktop specifications. It utilizes the Iced library for interface building, which implements safe types, modular architecture, and reactive programming. The library also provides an interface construction architecture familiar to developers who are accustomed to declarative languages like Elm. Multiple rendering engines are supported, including Vulkan, Metal, DX12, OpenGL 2.1+, and OpenGL ES 2.0+. Developers have access to a set of widgets, can create asynchronous handlers, and utilize adaptive layout for interface elements based on window and screen size.
In addition to using the Rust language, COSMIC introduces features such as hybrid mosaic window layout, stacked window pinning, and virtual desktop modes. The project is also working on developing a composite server called cosmic-comp based on Wayland.
Some of the changes in COSMIC include support for scalable cursors in the composite manager, an increased zoom step in the “magnifying glass” tool, and an added effect that temporarily increases the cursor size during active chaotic mouse movement to help users locate it on the screen more easily.
- In the composite manager, there is now support for scalable cursors to maintain clarity when increasing their size. Read More
- The zoom step in the “magnifying glass” tool has been increased, reducing the number of hotkey strokes needed to zoom in on content. Learn More
- An effect has been implemented to temporarily increase the cursor size during active chaotic mouse movement, making it easier to determine its location on the screen. This effect can be enabled through the configurator. Find Out More