Starting today, Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS users will receive an in-OS upgrade notification for the new Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS release. After running updates, begin the upgrade in the Settings > OS Upgrade and Recovery page.

Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS introduces the COSMIC Desktop Environment with new features and customization. When you upgrade:

• GNOME desktop will be replaced by the new COSMIC desktop
• New system applications will be installed: COSMIC Files, COSMIC Settings, COSMIC Store, COSMIC Terminal, and COSMIC Text Editor
• Applications pinned to the dock will need to be pinned again
• PPAs will be removed for increased upgrade reliability
• Applications installed from PPAs or local DEB files will need to be reinstalled

Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS Highlights

• New COSMIC Desktop Environment Experience
• New Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS for ARM computers
  ◦ Officially supported on the System76 Thelio Astra desktop
  ◦ Community support for non-System76 hardware enabled by Tow-Boot
• New hybrid graphics support for longer battery life
  ◦ No need to change modes
  ◦ Apps that request the discrete GPU will automatically run on the correct GPU
  ◦ Manually run an app on your preferred GPU by right-clicking on the app icon
• Easy installation with full disk encryption
• Refresh install feature by holding Space at boot or from the ISO
  ◦ Reinstall the OS anytime while keeping files, settings, and Flatpak user applications
  ◦ The Refresh feature will also arrive in COSMIC Settings after release
• Broad hardware support

COSMIC Desktop Environment Highlights

• Intuitive window tiling that can be used with the mouse or keyboard
  ◦ Activate tiling with a simple toggle in the panel
  ◦ Tiling per workspace and per display
  ◦ Easy to learn keyboard shortcuts
  ◦ Rearrange windows by dragging them with the mouse. Visual hints show where the window will land.
  
• Featureful Workspaces
  ◦ Horizontal or vertical workspaces
  ◦ Workspace per display or spanned across displays
  ◦ Drag workspaces to re-arrange them or move an entire workspace to a different display
  ◦ Pin workspaces so they’re never removed
  ◦ Workspace settings are persistent. A tiled and pinned workspace will be tiled and pinned after reboot.
  ◦ Add the “Numbered Workspaces” applet to your Panel or Dock to always see the workspace number you’re on
  
• Smooth multi-display experience
  ◦ Effortlessly mix and match hi-dpi and standard resolution displays
  ◦ Displays are automatically scaled based on pixel density and display scaling can be fine-tuned in Settings
  ◦ Display settings are persistent. Plug in the same display and its settings will return.
  ◦ Unplug a display and the windows on that display will move to a new workspace on a remaining display
  
• Customization galore
  ◦ Theme your desktop from Settings with easy color pickers
  ◦ Setup your personalized layout
  ••• Panel + Dock or single Panel
  ••• Put the Panel and Dock on any screen edge
  ◦ Add and arrange features (Applets) on the Panel or Dock from Settings
• Fast desktop navigation and easy keyboard shortcuts
  ◦ Press the Super (or the Windows key) to activate the Launcher
  ••• Type the app you want and press enter
  ••• Type the name of an open app then enter to switch to it
  ••• Type ? to learn more features like web and GitHub search, calculator, and running commands directly from the launcher
  ◦ Use the same keyboard shortcuts to focus or arrange windows across workspaces and displays
  • Super+Arrows to change the focused window. Super+Shift+Arrows to move windows.
  
• Stacks, snapping, and sticky windows
  ◦ Stack windows to combine them into tab groups like a browser
  ••• Right click on the header and choose Create Window Stack. Then drag another window to the stack.
  ••• When tiling windows, simply drag the window on top of another to create a stack.
  ◦ When using floating (non-tiled) windows, drag them to the display edges to snap them into a quarter or half tile
  ◦ Make a window stay on top of other windows and follow you around to other workspaces or displays by right-clicking the header and choosing  “Sticky window”

• Faster, more responsive applications
  ◦ COSMIC Files
  ◦ COSMIC Store
  ◦ COSMIC Terminal
  ◦ COSMIC Text Editor
  ◦ COSMIC Media Player
  ◦ COSMIC Screenshot
  ◦ Install more apps Made for COSMIC from COSMIC Store
• Written in the Rust programming language
  ◦ For memory safety and high performance

Roadmap of upcoming features

Keep an eye out for updates to the new COSMIC desktop environment on Pop!_OS: https://blog.system76.com/post/cosmic-epoch-2-and-3-roadmap

Download Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS

Download Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS at https://system76.com/pop