Pop!_OS
System76's Ubuntu spin with its own COSMIC desktop and tiling built in. The NVIDIA ISO is a quiet selling point.
Facts
- Family
- ubuntu
- Based on
- Ubuntu 24.04
- Release model
- LTS
- Current
- 24.04 LTS (COSMIC)
- Init system
- systemd
- Default desktop
- COSMIC
- NVIDIA
- A separate NVIDIA ISO ships the driver.
- Systemd-free
- No
- 32-bit support
- No
- As of
- 2026-10-09
On the DistroWatch top 10
Built by a hardware company, rewritten in Rust, delivered fashionably late.
Pop!_OS comes from System76, a hardware company, and sits on Ubuntu LTS. The first release was 17.10 on 2017-10-27. The current one, 24.04 LTS, arrived on 2025-12-11 with COSMIC, a desktop written in Rust that runs on Wayland. That is roughly 20 months after Ubuntu 24.04 itself, so the version number is accurate and the calendar is optimistic. A separate NVIDIA ISO exists, and Secure Boot has to be off. The minimum is 4 GB of RAM and 16 GB of disk. The delay bought a new desktop environment built from scratch, which is a respectable use of 20 months, even if the release notes could have mentioned the wait.
How the chooser scores it
Scores run from 1 to 5, and 5 is best for the user. They are opinion with a spreadsheet.
- StabilityStability: 3 out of 5
- Easy installEasy install: 5 out of 5
- Daily comfortDaily comfort: 4 out of 5
- Docs and helpDocs and help: 4 out of 5
- Fresh softwareFresh software: 3 out of 5
- GamingGaming: 4 out of 5
- DevelopmentDevelopment: 5 out of 5
- Old hardwareOld hardware: 2 out of 5
- ControlControl: 3 out of 5
- LightnessLightness: 4 out of 5
- NVIDIA, recent cardsNVIDIA, recent cards: 5 out of 5
- NVIDIA, older cardsNVIDIA, older cards: 4 out of 5
Caveats
- COSMIC 1.0 is young. Expect a few rough edges.
- Secure Boot has to be switched off to install.
Community
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