I'm considering using COSMIC (Pop!_OS) as my first Linux distribution mainly for studying and web browsing. I need to run applications like Anki, Calibre, Okular, Foliate, Obsidian, Telegram, and WhatsApp smoothly. My setup includes an AMD 4600G processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. I like the look and features of COSMIC, especially its interface and tiling capabilities, but I've heard it's still in beta. Is it worth trying, or should I consider another distro? Thanks for any advice!
4 Answers
You should definitely give it a shot! You can always switch later if you don't like it. I suggest creating a separate home partition to keep your files safe in case you want to try a different distro later. With 1TB, you'll have plenty of space for that.
Try using COSMIC but keep a couple of other distros on a Ventoy USB drive just in case something doesn't work as expected. I initially liked EndeavourOS but ended up switching to Bazzite due to some unexpected quirks. Just experiment a bit!
I wouldn't recommend COSMIC right now. It still has a lot of development ahead and might lack some features you'd expect from a designed desktop environment. If you want a smoother experience, consider going with Mint or Zorin instead for your first distro.
Pop!_OS is based on Ubuntu, which is pretty user-friendly and has lots of applications that work right out of the box. The main difference is the desktop environment, COSMIC, which is nice but might not be as beginner-friendly as Gnome or KDE. If you really want to try COSMIC, it's still a decent choice for new users.

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