System76, the makers of Linux-compatible computers and the COSMIC desktop environment, has released the latest version of COSMIC, COSMIC Epoch 1.11.

The latest version of COSMIC brings a number of improvements, including xdg-dialog-v1 for improved modal dialogs under Wayland, the replacement for the aging X11 window system. The company’s GitHub release notes says the change “ensures that modal dialogs are not hidden by other windows.” The new version also includes a number of “translation updates and dependency updates for many projects.”

The pop-launcher also sees some fixes and improvements, including ‘making queries always case insensitive, improving searching for words instead of parentheses, using the correct GPU on hybrid systems, and fixing keyword search weights when there are more keywords.’

Cosmic Settings features improvements to touchpad interactions, including tap and drag, as well as drag lock improvements.

COSMIC Poised to Revolutionize the Linux Desktop

COSMIC has long been the desktop environment (DE) for System76’s homegrown Pop_OS! Linux distro. Unlike many DEs, COSMIC blends a traditional free-style windowing environment with native tiling features. The end result is a DE that blends the familiar windowing environment with a tiling environment like Qtile, Hyperland, and bspwm.

COSMIC was originally based on the GNOME DE, with System76 heavily modifying GNOME via extensions to provide COSMIC’s unique experience. As GNOME continued is focus on simplicity and feature austerity, System76 decided the best option was to completely rewrite COSMIC from the ground up, using the Rust programming language. The goal was to have the freedom to add whatever features they wanted, without having to worry about extensions breaking after each GNOME update.

While there have been a number of delays, and COSMIC is still very much in its early days as a DE, development has been progressing at a rapid pace, adding features and fixing bugs. The latest release adds important improvements that Pop_OS! users will enjoy.

Full COSMIC 1.11 Release Notes

Translation updates and dependency updates for many projects
libcosmic

• Text inputs will not capture escape anymore, which fixes menus where escape had to be pressed twice to close them: pop-os/libcosmic#1474
  Fix scrollbar padding: pop-os/libcosmic#1466

cosmic-app-library

• Make down arrow key select the first app after searching: pop-os/cosmic-app-library#385
  On hybrid graphics systems, ensure that the correct GPU is used for video games: pop-os/cosmic-app-library#404

cosmic-applets

• Fix close button not working after a window is closed from the app list’s window previews: pop-os/cosmic-applets#1503
  Fix bugs with using mouse wheel or touchpad scroll to adjust volume: pop-os/cosmic-applets#1592

cosmic-comp

• Implement xdg-dialog-v1, which improves how modal dialogs behave. This ensures that modal dialogs are not hidden by other windows: pop-os/cosmic-comp#2471
• Fix closed windows not being removed when there are no outputs connected: pop-os/cosmic-comp#2912
• Fixes for input methods using the virtual keyboard protocol: pop-os/cosmic-comp#2925 and pop-os/cosmic-comp#2944
• Send on-screen keyboard activation over private dbus signal. This fixes the use of the OSK with other input methods: pop-os/cosmic-comp#2928

cosmic-edit

• Add mime type association for JSON files: pop-os/cosmic-edit#647

cosmic-launcher

• Fix blur region overlapping panel: pop-os/cosmic-launcher#480

cosmic-notifications

• Fix notification applet not starting: pop-os/cosmic-notifications#181

cosmic-osk

• Receive keyboard activation over private dbus signal: pop-os/cosmic-osk#55

cosmic-randr

• Escape serial numbers in formatted output, which caused the display settings page to not open with some displays: pop-os/cosmic-randr#61

cosmic-settings

• Options to toggle touchpad tap and drag (which allows to double tap on an item to drag it), and drag lock (which allows to briefly lift a finger during drag without dropping the dragged item): pop-os/cosmic-settings#2236
• Replace broken startup app links, which can happen when installing an app from a different source like flatpak: pop-os/cosmic-settings#2240

pop-launcher

• Make queries always case insensitive: pop-os/launcher#302
• Improve searching for words inside of parentheses: pop-os/launcher#301
• Use the correct GPU on hybrid systems: pop-os/launcher#300
• Fix keyword search weight when there are more keywords: pop-os/launcher#303