Pop! _OS 21.10 It is the new version of the System76 distribution, the best-known Linux machine builder and with little that you have followed its development, you know what to expect: derived from Ubuntu with GNOME more and more personalized, which, however, is dated expiration date… But let’s start at the beginning.
And the beginning of Pop! _OS 21.10 It is none other than its own release, whose version number does not deceive and comes to say that we are facing one of the derivatives of Ubuntu 21.10, but with nuances, since System76 applies customizations that go from the inside out, including kernel, graphic drivers and environment desktop and applications.
Thus, Pop! _OS 21.10 arrives with a more recent kernel version than Ubuntu’s; specifically, the latest version that has seen the light, updates included: Linux 5.15.5. The same for NVIDIA graphics drivers (AMD and Intel are integrated into the kernel and Mesa itself).
Pop! _OS 21.10 also brings new features in the system installer, or rather, in the system recovery systemForget the redundancies, which allows you to reinstall without deleting the files and from now on it will know if Pop! _OS is installed, offering the option to run an update before unlocking an encrypted storage unit.
However, the great novelty of Pop! _OS 21.10 is what they have called as Application Library or application library, a new application launcher that replaces GNOME itself and appears in a window in the center of the screen. Otherwise it is the same as the traditional launcher, it can be opened in the same way … but according to System76 it provides a series of advantages:
- Better multi-monitor experience, as the launcher always appears on the screen with the focus of the cursor.
- List of applications in alphabetical order that makes it easy to locate a specific application when you have many installed.
- Simplified application organization, being able to create folders that act as custom tabs with drag and drop.
- More accessible search that filters between applications installed and available in the Pop! _OS store.
- And “the right size: it achieves the same information density while using much less space. The application library provides the optimal experience, especially on ultra-wide monitors. “
What does the new Pop! _OS app launcher look like and how does it work? Check out the following video:
Other new features in Pop! _OS 21.10 include a own extended repository in which to host more applications to ensure that the most recent version of the same is being offered; improvements in the quality assurance process for new versions of the system, which includes the updates received by each version in progress; and some GNOME updates tweaked for the occasion.
However, from System76 they recommend making backup copies before updating from the previous version of the system, just in case. Specific step-by-step instructions are given in the launch announcement linked above.
But this release brings more news if possible: Pop! _Pi Tech-Preview for Raspberry 4, to which little else can be added. Indeed, habemus version of Pop! _OS for Raspberry Pi, although as its name warns, it is for the moment an installation image only for testing purposes. In both cases, both the download of Pop! _Pi Tech-Preview for Raspberry 4 and that of Pop! _OS 21.10 are available in the official project page.
And that’s it, although there will be much more: since System76 announced Cosmic as the new desktop environment for Pop! _OS they have not stopped advancing in that path and no matter how many modifications they make to GNOME, the figurative fork is taken and the plans to develop your own desktop in Rust are a fact.
In addition, the relationship between System76 and GNOME is not bad, it is lousy, and everything counts … although completely getting rid of GNOME software is an impossible mission at this point in the game. Of course they have already said that they will not.
