--- title: I tried COSMIC expecting a half-finished beta, and now I... description: A hands-on first impression of COSMIC, the Rust-based desktop environment from System76 that reached v1.0 in December 2025. Despite low expectations for such a... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-cosmic-expecting-a-half-finished-beta-and-now-i-don-t-want-to-go-back-to-kde-or-gnome-tivoc9qdr twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I tried COSMIC expecting a half-finished beta, and now I don't want to go back to KDE or GNOME | daily.dev og:description: A hands-on first impression of COSMIC, the Rust-based desktop environment from System76 that reached v1.0 in December 2025. Despite low expectations for such a... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-cosmic-expecting-a-half-finished-beta-and-now-i-don-t-want-to-go-back-to-kde-or-gnome-tivoc9qdr og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/tIvOc9Qdr.png og:image:alt: I tried COSMIC expecting a half-finished beta, and now I don't want to go back to KDE or GNOME og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I tried COSMIC expecting a half-finished beta, and now I don't want to go back to KDE or GNOME **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A hands-on first impression of COSMIC, the Rust-based desktop environment from System76 that reached v1.0 in December 2025. Despite low expectations for such a young project, COSMIC impressed with its snappiness (attributed to being written in Rust with no X11 legacy baggage), and standout dual-monitor features like per-monitor window tiling and independent workspace switching. The main shortcoming compared to KDE Plasma is the lack of a flexible widget system, but the author attributes this to COSMIC's youth rather than any fundamental flaw, and is seriously reconsidering switching away from KDE. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What makes the COSMIC desktop environment feel faster than KDE Plasma or GNOME? COSMIC feels snappier because it is written in Rust and does not carry the same architectural baggage as desktop environments that must support both X11 and Wayland. Apps and menus open more quickly, and windows respond faster when expanded from a minimized state compared to KDE Plasma. _Comparing desktop environment performance before switching setups is easier with daily.dev's developer community insights on Linux tooling._ ### Does COSMIC desktop support different workspaces on each monitor independently? Yes, COSMIC lets you switch workspaces on a per-monitor basis, unlike KDE Plasma where changing workspace affects both screens simultaneously. This allows one monitor to keep a primary layout while the other monitor's workspace changes independently, and window tiling can also be toggled separately per monitor. _Developers weighing desktop environment tradeoffs for multi-monitor workflows can track findings like this via daily.dev._ ### What features does COSMIC desktop environment lack compared to KDE Plasma? COSMIC currently lacks a widget system comparable to KDE Plasma's, where widgets can be placed almost anywhere, including the desktop or squashed into the taskbar. This gap is attributed to COSMIC being a young desktop environment, having reached its public 1.0 release only in December 2025, versus KDE Plasma's decades of development. _Anyone deciding between Linux desktop environments can follow ongoing comparisons like this through daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I finally switched Linux desktops, and COSMIC is the one to blame](https://daily.dev/posts/i-finally-switched-linux-desktops-and-cosmic-is-the-one-to-blame-k24tljblu) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [COSMIC is doing what GNOME still can't, and it's only been out for a year](https://daily.dev/posts/cosmic-is-doing-what-gnome-still-can-t-and-it-s-only-been-out-for-a-year-hwwqp4tij) · XDA Developers · 43 upvotes · 8 comments - [Is COSMIC DE mogging KDE Plasma?](https://daily.dev/posts/is-cosmic-de-mogging-kde-plasma--mrtmavosy) · Lobsters · 3 upvotes · 2 comments - [Cosmic version 1 to hit desktops on December 11](https://daily.dev/posts/cosmic-version-1-to-hit-desktops-on-december-11-gvt24vqbd) · The Register · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#rust](https://daily.dev/tags/rust) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-cosmic-expecting-a-half-finished-beta-and-now-i-don-t-want-to-go-back-to-kde-or-gnome-tivoc9qdr) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I tried COSMIC expecting a half-finished beta, and now I don't want to go back to KDE or GNOME","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-cosmic-expecting-a-half-finished-beta-and-now-i-don-t-want-to-go-back-to-kde-or-gnome-tivoc9qdr","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-cosmic-expecting-a-half-finished-beta-and-now-i-don-t-want-to-go-back-to-kde-or-gnome-tivoc9qdr"},"datePublished":"2026-07-29T13:03:56.789Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T21:56:19.252Z","description":"A hands-on first impression of COSMIC, the Rust-based desktop environment from System76 that reached v1.0 in December 2025. Despite low expectations for such a...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/3f29d4580a0ade52d011147c9bc5eb27?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/3f29d4580a0ade52d011147c9bc5eb27?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-cosmic-expecting-a-half-finished-beta-and-now-i-don-t-want-to-go-back-to-kde-or-gnome-tivoc9qdr","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"linux,rust","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"I tried COSMIC expecting a half-finished beta, and now I don't want to go back to KDE or GNOME"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-cosmic-expecting-a-half-finished-beta-and-now-i-don-t-want-to-go-back-to-kde-or-gnome-tivoc9qdr#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What makes the COSMIC desktop environment feel faster than KDE Plasma or GNOME?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"COSMIC feels snappier because it is written in Rust and does not carry the same architectural baggage as desktop environments that must support both X11 and Wayland. Apps and menus open more quickly, and windows respond faster when expanded from a minimized state compared to KDE Plasma. Comparing desktop environment performance before switching setups is easier with daily.dev's developer community insights on Linux tooling."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Does COSMIC desktop support different workspaces on each monitor independently?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, COSMIC lets you switch workspaces on a per-monitor basis, unlike KDE Plasma where changing workspace affects both screens simultaneously. This allows one monitor to keep a primary layout while the other monitor's workspace changes independently, and window tiling can also be toggled separately per monitor. Developers weighing desktop environment tradeoffs for multi-monitor workflows can track findings like this via daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What features does COSMIC desktop environment lack compared to KDE Plasma?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"COSMIC currently lacks a widget system comparable to KDE Plasma's, where widgets can be placed almost anywhere, including the desktop or squashed into the taskbar. This gap is attributed to COSMIC being a young desktop environment, having reached its public 1.0 release only in December 2025, versus KDE Plasma's decades of development. Anyone deciding between Linux desktop environments can follow ongoing comparisons like this through daily.dev."}}]} ```