The same day or the day after the release of Ubuntu 22.04 the official versions and two of four "remixes" of Jammy Jellyfish arrived. Soon after, the new versions of somewhat more important distributions, such as the Pop! _OS 22.04 which It has been released a few moments ago. As you can guess from the numbering, it's based on Ubuntu 22.04, but System76 isn't known for offering anything close to anything official.
To start with the differences, Pop!_OS 22.04, despite being an LTS version, uses the kernel Linux 5.16.9, and not the 5.15 that Ubuntu 22.04 uses. What it does look like is that it is based on GNOME 42, although Pop!_OS's own graphical environment makes the interface and everything in general different from what we see in Ubuntu or Fedora.
Pop! _OS 22.04 highlights
- Based on Ubuntu 22.04 and GNOME 42. The graphic environment is Cosmic UX.
- Linux 5.16.9, which will be updated regularly.
- Automatic updates with which packages or the operating system can be updated from a new panel in the general settings. Also, updates can be scheduled, and this is true for DEB, Flatpak, and Nix packages.
- New Support panel in the settings where you can see more information about the hardware.
- Improvements in light and dark themes.
- The Pop!_Shop store has received performance improvements and other changes to provide a better user experience.
- The launcher now allows access to quick settings for desktop options, background, appearance, dock and workspaces.
- PipeWire replaces PulseAudio.
- Improved multi-monitor support.
- Fixed interface on HiDPI screens.
- Improved performance.
To update to Pop!_OS 22.04, it is recommended to backup your important files, and then open the settings app, go to the update and recovery section and click the download button to start the process. Once everything is downloaded, click on update. If you prefer to do it via terminal, you have to open a window and write:
For fresh installations, new images can be downloaded from here. It is worth mentioning that they have a special ISO for computers with NVIDIA hardware.