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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- COSMIC desktop has unleashed Frosted Glass.
- This impact is what Apple’s Liquid Glass ought to have been.
- Anybody operating Pop!_OS can take pleasure in this new look.
When you consider which desktop has essentially the most lovely UI, MacOS might be the primary one which involves thoughts.
If you happen to have been a Linux consumer, you’d know higher, due to KDE Plasma — which is steadily catching as much as what Apple has to supply.
However then, you may also learn about what’s been cooking within the metaphorical labs at System76. Again in 2024, the corporate introduced it was engaged on one thing referred to as Frosted Glass. After I first heard about it, I am going to admit I used to be reasonably excited. In spite of everything, what System76 has performed with COSMIC in such a brief period of time is mind-blowing. This comparatively new Linux desktop surroundings (constructed from the bottom up with Rust) has come a great distance in a short time.
What I did not understand was simply how superb Frosted Glass would grow to be. In actual fact, I am going to simply state this right here and now: COSMIC’s Frosted Glass is what I thought MacOS’s Liquid Glass was imagined to be.
Frosted Glass is attractive.
Over time, I’ve talked about how any variety of Linux desktop environments might take the title of essentially the most lovely available on the market. Properly, that each one modified the second I upgraded COSMIC and enabled Frosted Glass. Now, each desktop surroundings has taken a again seat to COSMIC.
Sure, the tables have turned. System76 has upped the ante to this point that I can’t think about one other desktop surroundings catching as much as COSMIC.
What’s Frosted Glass?
The brand new Frosted Glass function in COSMIC desktop provides an elegantly smooth, blurred transparency to home windows and numerous UI parts. If you happen to’ve ever seen the blurred background impact utilized in login screens, the Android App Drawer, or sure menus in MacOS, you will know what I am speaking about.
Take, as an example, the COSMIC terminal app. With Frosted Glass enabled, your complete terminal is handled to a softly blurred background. The identical remedy is utilized to numerous different apps, such because the COSMIC System Monitor, COSMIC File Supervisor, COSMIC Textual content Editor, and the COSMIC App Launcher.
This layered look is beautiful, and I imagine it’s what Apple was aiming for with Liquid Glass.
The right way to get Frosted Glass?
Getting Frosted Glass is an easy matter of upgrading COSMIC desktop to the most recent launch. If you happen to’re operating Pop!_OS 24.04, you are able to do this by way of the standard technique of opening the COSMIC Retailer (which additionally will get the Frosted Glass remedy), clicking Updates, after which making use of the upgrades.
As soon as you’ve got run the improve, reboot your machine and log again in.
To allow Frosted Glass, open Settings (which additionally will get the remedy) and navigate to Desktop > Model > Frosted Glass. Within the sidebar, allow the function for the weather of your alternative, after which change the frost thickness and glass opacity to your liking.
It took me all of two minutes to have my desktop wanting as elegant as I’ve ever seen an OS desktop look. I enabled Frosted Glass for each component, as a result of I am loopy for an excellent blur impact.
The top result’s attractive.
Sorry about your luck, Apple
Apple had an ideal alternative to take the desktop to new heights with Liquid Glass. I am not saying its UI is ugly… it isn’t. I really like Liquid Glass and have utilized it to each my MacBook Professional and Apple Studio. Nonetheless, now that I’ve seen what System76 has performed with COSMIC, Liquid Glass seems to be drab and boring by comparability.
Now that Frosted Glass has been unleashed, it seems to be like Apple’s obtained a a lot greater bar to succeed in than it did only a few days in the past. Even when the corporate goes again to the drafting board with Liquid Glass, I can’t think about it is going to be higher than what System76 has performed.
To all the designers and engineers at System76, I applaud the work you’ve got performed. As soon as once more, you’ve got proved that Linux is the ruler of the desktop, and that is not going to alter any time quickly.
