‘Tis the Season for COSMIC Alpha 4!

"COSMIC Alpha 4" header image

The holidays are upon us, and it’s time to check under your tree as we light another candle for the 4th COSMIC Alpha release. There’s lots of gifts to share in the latest early release of our new Rust-based desktop environment for Pop!_OS and other distros: COSMIC. These gifts include updates to settings, COSMIC apps, and another big batch of bug fixes. Let the festivities commence!

Update or install at: https://system76.com/cosmic/

Region & Language Settings

Region & Language Settings have been added to COSMIC. Here you can select your preferred language, as well as preferred formatting for date, time, and numbers used by COSMIC.

The Region & Language settings page in COSMIC Settings, divided into settings for Preferred Languages and Formatting.
The Region & Language settings page in COSMIC Settings, divided into settings for Preferred Languages and Formatting.

Default Applications Settings

A settings page has been added to System & Accounts Settings enabling you to set your default applications for various purposes, including your preferred browser, file manager, email client, music and video players, image viewer, and calendar.

The Default Applications settings page in COSMIC Settings shows dropdown menus for selecting your default apps. This example includes the following: Firefox web browser, COSMIC Files file manager, COSMIC Media Player for both music and video, Image Viewer for photos, and Thunderbird for both mail client and calendar.
The Default Applications settings page in COSMIC Settings shows dropdown menus for selecting your default apps. This example includes the following: Firefox web browser, COSMIC Files file manager, COSMIC Media Player for both music and video, Image Viewer for photos, and Thunderbird for both mail client and calendar.

You may notice that “COSMIC Media Player” is listed as the default video and music player. COSMIC Media Player is a Rust-based media player currently being developed! More info on that when it’s closer to being ready!


COSMIC Store

While performing updates and app installs, clicking “Details” in the bottom-left corner will open a context menu where you can view a list of all in-progress and completed tasks.

This screenshot of the COSMIC Store shows an open "Operations" context menu tracking the progress of three pending updates.
This screenshot of the COSMIC Store shows an open "Operations" context menu tracking the progress of three pending updates.

Display Power Management Settings

Implementation of power management settings for your display are now complete. In Power & Battery Settings, you’ll find options for setting how long until the screen turns off after remaining idle, as well as independent settings for when your system suspends when plugged in and on battery power.

Power Saving Options include "Turn off the screen after" an energy-saving 15 minutes, "Automatic suspend when plugged in"  set at an hour, and "Automatic suspend on battery power" set to 30 minutes.
Power Saving Options include "Turn off the screen after" an energy-saving 15 minutes, "Automatic suspend when plugged in" set at an hour, and "Automatic suspend on battery power" set to 30 minutes.

Accessibility Applet & Screenreader Support

Though still in its very early stages, the new Accessibility applet provides a toggle for turning screenreader support on and off. Screenreading now works for COSMIC Settings, Firefox, and GNOME applications. For the alpha, Screenreader testing is performed in COSMIC Settings, and then will be applied to the rest of the COSMIC apps when it’s ready.

This first version of COSMIC's Accessibility applet includes a toggle for turning the screenreader on or off.
This first version of COSMIC's Accessibility applet includes a toggle for turning the screenreader on or off.

Variable Refresh Rate

Variable refresh rate (VRR) allows your display to match the framerate of an image source, such as a game — and doing so prevents screen tearing. Support for VRR has been added to the cosmic-comp compositor and Displays Settings. You can set VRR to be either always on or automatic, which will enable VRR for fullscreen content.

Fixes & Performance Improvements

To update or install, visit https://system76.com/cosmic/


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