COSMIC is close to reaching its first alpha
COSMIC, is the new desktop environment in which the developers of System76, responsible for the Linux distribution "Pop!_OS", have been working, and For just over 2 years various changes have been made and proposals for improvements have been launched for this environment.
The interesting thing about COSMIC is that it has been rewritten in the Rust language, andbecause previously the environment was based on GNOME Shell. COSMIC is developing as a universal project, not tied to a specific distribution, and meets Freedesktop specifications. To build the interface, COSMIC uses the Iced library, which uses safe types, modular architecture, and a reactive programming model.
In addition to the shell, the COSMIC project is also developing a composite server called cosmic-comp, which is based on Wayland, a fundamental technology in the modern Linux desktop environment. This composite server will provide a solid foundation for UI presentation in the COSMIC shell, offering a smooth and efficient experience.
And now The progress that has been achieved in COSMIC has recently been announced and the developers mention that the project has matured to the point that the launch of the first Alpha is possible.
The alpha version will mark the availability of a basic set of features that will allow the shell to be considered a functional product and within the functions under development that are included in the list of minimum requirements for the formation of an alpha version of COSMIC, the following stands out:
- COSMIC-term- Terminal emulator written using the alacritty_terminal framework and supported features such as GPU rendering, skins, and rich input methods. Among the tasks in development, the incorporation of support for mouse emulation and the ability to open hyperlinks in the terminal stand out.
- COSMIC Randr: A utility for displaying parameters and configuring screens in a Wayland-based environment, which is planned to be used in the COSMIC configuration configurator to configure output parameters.
- Screenshot Applet: Initial implementation to take screenshots of the entire screen, individual windows and selected areas.
- Hybrid Graphics Support (Integrated GPU + discrete video card): Ensuring operation in systems with hybrid graphics and the ability to manage the discrete card to save power in offline mode or selectively activate it for games and graphics applications.
- Frosted Glass Effect: Implementation of support for the frosted glass effect in design themes.
- Windows Mosaic: Creating an applet to manage window tiling and enable automatic tiling of windows linked to a specific desktop.
- How to Fix Stacked Windows: Similar to browser tabs for grouping different application windows.
- On Screen Display (OSD)- Feature with the ability to display information on top of the content (OSD – On Screen Display) and use this feature to display brightness indicators, volume, switch windows using Alt + Tab and switch to offline mode.
- Stylized Desktop Wallpapers: Creation of stylized wallpapers and interface for setting wallpapers.
- Login and Lock Screens: In development to improve security and user experience.
- Configuration Interface: For screen orientation, scale, color profile, etc.
- Input Device Configuration: Change mouse and touchpad parameters, such as cursor speed.
- Virtual Desktops: Discussion phase completed and development phase begun.
- Design Review and Unification: For all already developed functionalities, including application menu, program start interface and notification system.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the alpha version is expected to be released at the end of March, which will help gather more feedback to finalize the functionality and improve usability.
If you are interested in knowing more about it, you can check the details In the following link.