Phoronix

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System76 has released COSMIC Epoch 1.3, the latest update to their Rust-based desktop environment for Pop!OS and other Linux distributions. The headline addition is an optional frosted glass visual effect, accessible through Settings → Desktop → Appearance → Style. It’s already live on Pop!OS 24.04, with other distros getting it as the updated packages roll out.
Full adoption of the frosted glass effect depends on app developers updating their libcosmic versions, so coverage will be uneven at first. The release also adds GPU power readouts for AMD and Intel cards and an improved Bluetooth applet that lists all known devices, not just currently connected ones.
<h2>Tiling without the config-file headache</h2>
Beyond the visual update, COSMIC has been quietly solving one of the more frustrating problems on the Linux desktop: tiling window management that doesn’t require editing config files before you can do anything useful.
Most tiling setups on Linux involve a steep upfront cost — learning a custom config syntax, writing keybindings from scratch, and debugging why your gaps aren’t the right size. COSMIC handles all of this through a GUI. You can set spacing, toggle active window highlighting, and switch between tiling and floating modes per workspace, all without touching a text file.
The implementation supports both mouse and keyboard control, and includes window stacking for cases where you want to group windows without tiling them. It’s not as infinitely configurable as something like Hyprland or i3, but that’s partly the point. For someone who wants tiling to just work, COSMIC is currently the most accessible option on Linux.
COSMIC had its first stable release in December 2025 and has been picking up support across major distributions since. Source is on GitHub if you want to follow development or build from source.

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System76 has released COSMIC Epoch 1.3, featuring an optional frosted glass visual style for their Rust-based desktop environment. The effect is already available on Pop!_OS 24.04 via Settings > Desktop > Appearance. The update also includes translation updates and minor refinements, with other Linux distributions expected to receive the update soon.

COSMIC desktop gets a frosted glass visual style in Epoch 1.3

Yay. Glass is so peak! I’m really jealous that Windows and MacOS have a proper glass effect. Unlike Gnome and KDE, it’s really bad.

Just say no to glass. it’s ass.