Pop OS 24.04 LTS Beta

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overall Pop!_OS Experience (Pre‑Cosmic)

  • Many long‑term users describe Pop!_OS as “Ubuntu without the bad parts”: no snaps, fewer Canonical nags, smoother defaults, good documentation, and easy reuse of Ubuntu solutions.
  • Reported strengths: out‑of‑the‑box Nvidia support (even in live USB), full‑disk encryption, restore partition, previous‑kernel boot, and generally “just works” behavior on diverse hardware (ThinkPads, Framework, older MacBooks).
  • Main recurring complaint: Pop!_Shop is slow and unreliable; several users avoid it entirely and manage updates via CLI.

Cosmic DE Features & UX

  • Enthusiasm for: integrated tiling, independent workspaces per monitor, top bar on all screens, and a unified settings experience that’s closer to i3/sway but more turnkey.
  • Users running the alpha report that it’s stable enough for daily use, with most bugs around keyboard navigation, multi‑monitor quirks, and some gaming/Steam Remote Play edge cases.
  • Some see it as the first Linux setup that feels like a cohesive “full OS” without needing lots of extra tooling or extensions.

Design & Theming Reactions

  • Several commenters find Cosmic’s proportions, large switches, rounded corners, and bright blue theme “off” or “cheesy,” saying it feels slightly unpolished or visually irritating despite good functionality.
  • Others argue Linux desktops still lack the visual “solidity” of classic Windows UIs and that richer, more consistent GUI frameworks (GTK/QT equivalents) are the real missing piece.
  • There’s debate over whether having designers involved is enough versus needing stronger, cohesive design direction.

Release Timing, Versioning, and Scope Concerns

  • Significant frustration that 24.04 LTS is only now in beta (late 2025), leaving users effectively parked on 22.04; some switched to Fedora, KDE, or plain Debian rather than wait.
  • Some think System76 “bit off more than they could chew” by building a full DE from scratch instead of shipping another GNOME‑based LTS first.
  • Version number 24.04 (Ubuntu base) causes confusion; some argue Pop!_OS should version releases independently.

Ecosystem, Alternatives & Fragmentation

  • Cosmic is seen as a reaction to GNOME’s rigid design vision and extension fragility; supporters welcome a Rust‑based, distro‑agnostic DE (with spins like Fedora Cosmic).
  • Skeptics question whether another DE is necessary given KDE’s flexibility and the rise of scriptable setups like Hyprland/Omarchy; others value Cosmic precisely because it’s more curated and less tinker‑heavy.
  • Rust is viewed by some as attractive for contributors, by others as a barrier compared with simple scripting‑based extension models.

Technical/HW Notes & Gaps

  • Positive reports on Pop!_OS running well on older Macs, with Broadcom Wi‑Fi requiring manual wl driver installation.
  • A few users report Nvidia driver and audio stability issues on Pop or Cosmic; secure boot and ARM64 ISOs are still missing.
  • Drag‑and‑drop between Wayland and X11 apps is not yet implemented in Cosmic, prompting debate about Wayland maturity versus immature new DEs rather than Linux “being broken.”