I tested COSMIC’s new Frosted Glass effect, and it’s way better than MacOS’ Liquid Glass

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COSMIC desktop has unleashed Frosted Glass.
This effect is what Apple’s Liquid Glass should have been.
Anyone running Pop!_OS can enjoy this new look.

When you think about which desktop has the most beautiful UI, MacOS is probably the first one that comes to mind.

If you were a Linux user, you’d know better, thanks to KDE Plasma — which is gradually catching up to what Apple has to offer.

But then, you might also know about what’s been cooking in the metaphorical labs at System76. Back in 2024, the company announced it was working on something called Frosted Glass. When I first heard about it, I’ll admit I was moderately excited. After all, what System76 has done with COSMIC in such a short amount of time is mind-blowing. This relatively new Linux desktop environment (built from the ground up with Rust) has come a long way very quickly.

Also: ‘I’m not a programmer’ anymore: Linus Torvalds on the only two tools he uses now

What I didn’t realize was just how amazing Frosted Glass would turn out to be. In fact, I’ll just state this here and now: COSMIC’s Frosted Glass is what I thought MacOS’s Liquid Glass was supposed to be.

Frosted Glass is gorgeous.

Over the years, I’ve talked about how any number of Linux desktop environments could take the title of the most beautiful on the market. Well, that all changed the second I upgraded COSMIC and enabled Frosted Glass. Now, every desktop environment has taken a back seat to COSMIC.

Yes, the tables have turned. System76 has upped the ante so far that I cannot imagine another desktop environment catching up to COSMIC.

What is Frosted Glass?

The new Frosted Glass feature in COSMIC desktop adds an elegantly soft, blurred transparency to windows and various UI components. If you’ve ever seen the blurred background effect used in login screens, the Android App Drawer, or certain menus in MacOS, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Also: I…

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