Pop!_OS 22.04 "LTS" Released

Pop! OS 22.04 “LTS” has been released, bringing with it a slew of new features and optimizations. Pop! OS is an Ubuntu-based operating system built and managed by System76, a Denver-based company that creates open-source hardware, software, and firmware.

Pop! OS has the same release cycle as Ubuntu, with a new version every six months. With each release, the corporation makes minor adjustments to the system to improve it, such as upgrading the system core to the most recent version of Ubuntu, the desktop environment, and so on.

What’s new In Pop!_OS 22.04

Pop! _OS 22.04 is now ready for download, with some minor updates that improve the distribution. Here are some of the highlights of what’s new and improved in the latest release:

Ubuntu 22.04 Core

The new release is based on the latest Ubuntu 22.04 “LTS” release, uses Linux Kernel 5.16.19, and Mesa 22.

GNOME 42

Pop! OS employs a highly customised GNOME desktop environment known as COSMIC UX. COSMIC, a Rust-based desktop environment that is now being tested, is also being developed by the team. The release note also mentions the possibility of a COSMIC alpha release as soon as this summer.

Automatic Updates/Upgrades

Pop! OS can be easily upgraded to the latest version using the Upgrade & Recovery tab in Settings. You can also specify a time for the automated update to begin, which includes upgrading Debian, Flatpak, and Nix packages.

Pop! OS also triggers weekly notifications to install any available updates. Notifications can also be sent on a daily or monthly basis.

New Support Panel

Developers provide a variety of ways to submit a support ticket. One can receive help through the community chat, submit a support ticket to System76 technicians, or read articles on the support page.

The new assistance page lists the various ways to contact the team or community to troubleshoot a specific issue. The support panel makes it simple for new users to obtain assistance quickly and conveniently.

Separate backgrounds for dark and light mode

To make the system more appealing to its users, users can set different backgrounds for dark and light mode. When a user picks dark and mode and sets a wallpaper, the wallpaper will be displayed everytime the user switches from light to dark mode and vice versa.

System76 Scheduler

All the operating systems pass all processes to the CPU for processing and then returns the results to the operating system. A scheduler, such as System76 Scheduler, watches these processes and prioritises them when delivering them to the CPU to process based on their type and usage.

A running game, for example, requires more CPU power than anything else on the computer, therefore System76 Scheduler prioritises gaming processes over other programmes running on the system to provide users with a smoother and faster computing experience.

Pop!_OS Shop

Pop!_OS shop allows its users to manage packages on the operating system. Users can install, remove and update packages from the shop. In Pop!_OS 22.04, users will have smoother experience because of backend code improvements, and several UI improvements.

There are a few other minor changes, such as the Install and Update button now acting as a progress bar, and there is a new “Recently Updated” section on the homepage that emphasises apps that have recently been added or updated.

More workspace improvements –

• Better multi-monitor support
• Fixed layout on HiDPI displays
• Increased performance

• Workspace improvements
• More improvements

Other improvements

• Resumable upgrades –
  • If your upgrade gets interrupted, the system can resume the upgrade where it left off
• journald logs limited to 1GB
• Support for laptop privacy screens
• Installed Nvidia drivers visible in Pop!_OS shop without “Install” button. Older Nvidia drivers are also available in Pop!_OS shop.
• Better performance with improvements to the CPU scaling governor