COSMIC, the Linux desktop that can look and work however you dang well like, is adding more bling.
System76 co-founder Carl Richell has given us our first look at the ‘Frosted Glass’ effect coming to the COSMIC desktop in Epoch 2 (as the desktop releases are named):
System76’s engineering team is opting to use a ‘more performant’ Dual Kawase blur, commonly used in gaming, to handle the dynamic effect. This apparently offers a ‘close approximation’ of Gaussian blur, but is not as resource intensive.
That’s important.
Flashy UI effects often involve a performance hit and, more keenly, a knock-on effect in battery life as the CPU and GPU handle the drawing and computing.
Pop!_OS is a popular distro choice among Linux gamers, so carefully balancing a sexy UI without souring its appeal is a sound approach.
Like most features available in the COSMIC desktop, users will be able to control this frosted blur effect – intensity, amount of transparency, etc. Those you don’t like it, don’t have to enable it; it’s optional bling, not mandatory embellishment.
Frosted Glass Effect is
Code implementing this frosted glass look in to the COSMIC desktop UI and app toolkit is underway, but Richell’s screenshots show design mockups, i.e., the intended end result, not a WIP sneak-peek. It will be a while before this arrive in the COSMIC desktop.
Even so, it’s something to look forward to. The technical feat in building a new desktop environment, compositor and suite of apps from scratch is impressive, especially given it uses languages and toolkits less commonly used.
But while technical stuff is arguably most important, good design matters too: it’s the bit people see.
On a selfish note, it’s great to see System76 and the COSMIC team openly sharing and discussing their plans for their custom desktop. Taking on feedback early often results in an end result that pleases more people.
COSMIC Desktop (Epoch 1) ships as the default desktop in Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS – the best way to try the desktop out. But if you use Ubuntu and you don’t want to switch or install distro, there’s an unofficial COSMIC PPA you can use instead.
Thanks Daren!