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- Comparing COSMIC’s New Frosted Glass Effect to macOS’s Liquid Glass</TITLE] Jack Wallen/ZDNETKey TakeawaysThe COSMIC desktop environment has introduced a new “Frosted Glass” effect.This visual upgrade provides a level of sophistication that rivals Apple’s Liquid Glass.Users running Pop!_OS can easily access this new aesthetic.When discussing the most aesthetically pleasing user interfaces, macOS is often the primary benchmark. While Linux users might point to KDE Plasma for its ability to bridge the gap between open-source and Apple’s polish, a new contender has emerged from System76.In 2024, System76 announced they were developing a visual feature called Frosted Glass. Given how rapidly the COSMIC desktop environment—built from the ground up in Rust—has evolved, I had high expectations. However, the final result exceeded them. In my view, COSMIC’s Frosted Glass achieves the exact visual depth that macOS’s Liquid Glass seemed to be aiming for.The Frosted Glass effect is stunning. Over the years, I have seen many Linux desktop environments vie for the title of the most beautiful UI, but the moment I upgraded COSMIC and enabled this feature, the landscape changed. The visual sophistication System76 has achieved sets a very high bar for the industry.Understanding Frosted GlassThe Frosted Glass feature introduces an elegant, soft, blurred transparency to windows and various UI elements. It provides a depth similar to the blurred backgrounds found in modern login screens, Android App Drawers, or certain macOS menus.For example, the COSMIC terminal app gains a beautiful, softly blurred background when enabled. This same polished treatment is applied across the suite, including the COSMIC System Monitor, File Manager, Text Editor, and App Launcher. A terminal has never looked so good. Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNETThis layered, translucent aesthetic creates a premium feel that I believe is the gold standard for modern operating systems.How to Enable Frosted GlassImplementing Frosted Glass is straightforward: simply upgrade your COSMIC desktop to the latest version. For users on Pop!_OS 24.04, you can perform this update via the COSMIC Store by selecting the Updates tab and applying the available upgrades. How can you not love this look? Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNETAfter the upgrade, a quick system reboot will apply the changes. To customize the look, navigate to Settings > Desktop > Style > Frosted Glass. From there, you can enable the effect for specific elements and fine-tune the blur thickness and glass opacity to your personal preference. Even the Settings app has been frosted. Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNETThe customization process is incredibly fast, allowing you to transform your desktop into a highly elegant workspace in just minutes.A New Benchmark for DesignApple had a significant opportunity to redefine desktop aesthetics with Liquid Glass. While Liquid Glass is certainly not “ugly”—and is quite pleasing on a MacBook Pro or an Apple Studio display—it now feels somewhat plain compared to the depth provided by COSMIC. With the release of Frosted Glass, System76 has raised the stakes. Apple now faces a much higher standard for visual excellence, and it remains to be seen if they can match the level of sophistication System76 has brought to the Linux desktop.Kudos to the engineers and designers at System76 for this achievement. They have once again demonstrated the incredible momentum and design potential within the Linux ecosystem.
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