Here’s what worked for me and what didn’t

When I decided to try another Linux distro, I did what most people would do: I typed “best Linux distros for beginners” into my search bar. The AI ​​overview and top ten organic search results recommended Ubuntu LTS, Linux Mint, Zorin OS, Pop!_OS, Elementary OS, and a few other Linux distributions. I used Pop!_OS because it promised a fast, organized, intuitive and modern user interface, customizations, security and hardware compatibility.

My first impression of Pop!_OS as someone who has never used it

The Pop!_OS user interface was polished, modern, user-friendly, and not too different from Ubuntu, which I had been using for some time. The installation and configuration process was seamless, and because the first-run and onboarding experiences were also guided, the entire process was beginner-friendly and I was up and running in no time.

Overall, my first Pop!_OS experience was very positive and I couldn’t wait to dive into it.

Related

What is Pop!_OS?

Are you considering getting into the Linux world? Discover Pop!_OS.

What I liked about Pop!_OS

Many things worked well in my week-long experiment.

Ease of installation

My first positive experience was the ease of downloading and installing Pop!_OS. Yes, installing Linux is relatively simple, so here’s what I mean by that. When you search for Pop!_OS, System76 website is the first search result and it is easy to navigate to the download page from the search engine results page.

The Pop!_OS download page has also split the disk image files to ensure that you are downloading the correct disk image file. Since I was installing Pop!_OS on an Intel computer, I downloaded Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS.

After downloading the correct ISO file, you can use Balena Etcher to create a bootable USB drive and then begin installing Pop!_OS as you would any other Linux distribution. The installation, including encrypting the drive and setting up a username and password, was also guided and simple (you literally can’t go wrong).

I opted for a fresh install and using the on-screen guides, I had my language, location, keyboard layout, and partitioning set up in no time.

Surprisingly, you can use the pre-installed apps during the installation process.

User interface design and desktop experience

Pop!_OS 24.04 Beta launched with COSMIC desktop. However, I will focus on the GNOME edition since that’s what I experienced.

The initial UI design and desktop experience stood out to me. Every step of the integration process worked well and was so intuitive that I found myself wishing other Linux distributions would emulate it.

For starters, the GNOME Configuration Tool made the first experience easy. He explained to me the choice of a dock location and the configuration of the top bar. This also introduced me to gesture controls and the Super Key. I immediately appreciated the Super key’s ability to launch apps quickly, and my workflow improved when I realized I could press it, type “ter,” then press enter to operate the terminal in record time.

I later learned that I could also use Pop!_OS launcher prefixes, like t: to run commands in the terminal or = to run calculations.

Tiling also worked perfectly after enabling it. Its impact on my productivity was also immediate.

For example, I tiled Firefox, copied a command from it and pasted it into the terminal. This dual-screen desktop experience was very intuitive and productive.

Support for default drivers and applications

Since my Pop!_OS installation was on an Intel device and I had downloaded the correct disk image, the display driver support worked perfectly out of the box; it was the same for all the pre-installed applications: no complaints!

Pop!_Shop

Pop!_Shop worked wonderfully from the start; Pop!_Picks featured many commonly installed apps, but the categorization was hands down my favorite feature because it made the store much more accessible.

What I didn’t like about Pop!_OS

Although I enjoyed my Pop!_OS experience, some things didn’t work as well as I expected.

The Launcher and Desktop Experience

The launcher had some quirks and the learning curve was steeper than I expected.

For example, many Pop!_OS articles I read recommended quick-launch apps by pressing the button Operating system key + \ then typing the name of the target application. I assumed this meant pressing these keys together and then typing the name of the app I wanted to start. I was wrong!

The actual process is to press the Super key, then /, then enter the app name. Ultimately the ‘\’ seemed redundant because running the launcher the same way without it and then typing the app name still worked.

Lack of out-of-the-box customizations for gesture control

Pop!_OS offers four gestures by default:

• A four-finger swipe to the left opens the workspaces and window preview.

• A four-finger swipe to the right opens apps.

• A four-finger swipe up and down switches between workspaces.

• A three-finger swipe switches between windows.

Other than that, there isn’t much gesture customization. Although you can use a tool like Touchegg to add and customize more gesture controls, KDE Plasma, Garuda Linux, and some other distributions have more gesture controls right out of the box.

Pop!_Shop categories slow down rendering issues

When I explored the Pop!_Shop categories, each category rendered slowly. I initially thought the problem was with my network, but it persisted after moving to a higher bandwidth network. Although it wasn’t a deal breaker, loading time categories was taking too long, which was affecting my productivity.

After using Pop!_OS for a week, the distribution has lived up to its promises: it is fast, modern and intuitive to use, especially if you have already used Ubuntu or other Ubuntu-based distributions.

This makes Pop!_OS ideal for those looking for a distribution that supports workspaces and tiling out of the box. It’s also ideal for power users who need Nvidia driver support. Will I stay with Pop!_OS? Yes, I will continue to run and experiment with Pop!_OS.