Vultures rake our claws over COSMIC as Pop OS 24.04 LTS with ‘Epoch 1’ emerges

Steven

Vultures rake our claws over COSMIC as Pop OS 24.04 LTS with ‘Epoch 1’ emerges

Summary

System76 has shipped Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS alongside COSMIC “Epoch 1”, the project’s first ground-up desktop environment written in Rust. The Register tested the release on older and modern kit: an ageing ThinkPad W520 where support was patchy, and a Dell XPS 13 which ran the new desktop smoothly. COSMIC is fast, demonstrates strong Wayland behaviour, and offers flexible panels/docks without GNOME extensions, but it still shows 1.0 rough edges.

Installation can be fiddly for dual-boot systems because Pop!_OS uses systemd-boot and places kernels in the EFI System Partition (ESP). Small ESPs (e.g. Dell’s 100 MB default) break installation; GParted’s underlying tooling still struggles with very small FAT32 volumes. Pop!_OS also defaults to a two-tier swap setup (ZRAM then an encrypted swap file/partition) — the reviewer explains simple steps to switch to Zswap and a conventional swap partition for better performance and lower SSD wear.

Key Points

  • Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS ships with COSMIC Epoch 1, a Rust-based desktop environment built for Wayland.
  • COSMIC is noticeably fast and handles multiple displays, scaling and dynamic desktop changes well.
  • Dual-boot installers can fail on systems with tiny EFI partitions; GParted/parted tooling still has limitations.
  • Default memory handling uses ZRAM plus an encrypted swap file; the reviewer prefers Zswap with a swap partition and explains how to change it.
  • On modern hardware (Dell XPS 13) COSMIC is stable and responsive even under heavier app loads.
  • Version 1.0 still has usability rough spots: some settings lag, panel overcrowding, and a few UI inconsistencies.
  • COSMIC is already appearing in other distros and is expected in Arch and rolling releases by early 2026.

Author style

Punchy: this is a proper milestone for the Linux desktop. COSMIC shows what a modern Wayland-first environment can do, and System76 has produced a distro+desktop combo that will turn heads. If you care about desktop Linux momentum, read the detail — it matters.

Why should I read this?

Short and honest: if you run Linux on a laptop or fiddle with desktops, this is worth ten minutes. COSMIC is fast, Wayland finally feels useful, and the install/swap quirks are the kind of practical faff you’ll want to know about before you risk your dual-boot setup. We’ve done the poking so you don’t have to.

Context and Relevance

Why it matters: a ground-up Rust desktop shipping as 1.0 is notable — it signals maturity in Wayland tooling and a real challenger to GNOME/KDE for users who want speed and flexible workflows. The installer/ESP problem also highlights an ongoing ecosystem gap: tooling and OEM defaults (tiny ESPs) still frustrate Linux installers. For distro maintainers, desktop developers and power users, COSMIC’s approach to tiling, dynamic desktops and Wayland behaviours is a trend to watch into 2026.

Source

Source: https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2025/12/22/popos_2404_cosmic_epoch_1/