Pop!_OS 20.04 LTS Released

There are lots of new features and improvements for you to enjoy, including the talk of the town, Auto-tiling! Read on for more info on all my favorite new features from Pop!_OS 20.04 LTS.

Pop!_Shell

While most operating systems use the mouse as the main navigator, Pop!_OS takes full advantage of your keyboard. New and expanded keyboard shortcuts create a fluid experience—one in which your hands rarely have to leave the keyboard.

Keyboard Navigation

The new keyboard shortcuts allow you to launch an application, switch between applications, toggle settings, and much, much more (as we’ll cover here shortly). In place of the default shortcuts, you can also use Vim shortcuts to navigate your desktop—without having to leave home row. For a good look at the full capabilities of keyboard navigation on Pop!_OS 20.04 LTS, click ‘View All Shortcuts’ in your system menu in the top right corner of your screen.

Auto-tiling

Auto-tiling organizes your windows for you as soon as you open your application. With organization taken care of by your operating system, Pop!_OS gives you more time to focus on your work and less time to waste on fiddling around with windows. Keyboard shortcuts make auto-tiling a breeze—you can move, resize, and swap windows to your liking without touching your mouse. Auto-tiling can be toggled on or off in the system menu, so it won’t affect your workflow if you prefer petting the profane rodent.

Workspaces 

Meanwhile, workspaces allow you to keep relevant content together and irrelevant content out of site. You can use keyboard shortcuts to quickly switch between workspaces, as well as move your window between workspaces.

Auto-tiling, workspaces, and keyboard navigation work in tandem to make up Pop!_Shell, a keyboard-centric workflow experience on Pop!_OS. It’s buttery smooth. Like a moist biscuit at your fingertips.

Flatpak support with the Flathub repository

We’ve integrated Flatpak support in the Pop!_Shop. Now when you download an application, you have the option to pull packages from the Pop!_OS, Flathub, or Ubuntu repositories. Flatpak/Flathub support expands our software library and the number of applications available to you. Furthermore, applications packaged through Flatpak have significant privacy advantages, as these applications are limited in their access to only what the application requires to function.
Hybrid graphics

Previously on Pop!_OS: Laptops with Intel and NVIDIA graphics have the power to Jekyll and Hyde between integrated graphics and the dGPU.

Now on Pop!_OS: In addition to switching between Intel and NVIDIA graphics, you can choose Hybrid Graphics from the system menu. In Hybrid Graphics mode, your laptop runs on the battery-saving Intel GPU and only uses the NVIDIA GPU for applications you designate. To do this, simply right-click on the app icon and select “Launch using Dedicated Graphics Card”.

Automatic firmware updates

Update your firmware with a push of a button. Pop!_OS Firmware Manager supports firmware updates for System76 hardware, as well as any hardware vendor distributing firmware updates through LVFS. Firmware settings can be accessed on Pop!_OS through the Firmware tab in Settings. No, you don’t need to own a System76 computer to benefit from this feature. Yes, you do need to own a System76 computer to score batches upon batches of brownie points from our engineers.

Application settings in the top barCertain applications such as Slack, Dropbox, and Discord use application indicators in the top bar on your desktop to make app settings more accessible. These application indicators are supported by default in Pop!_OS 20.04 LTS.

Offline OS Upgrades

Pop!_OS provides the latest features and security patches through rolling updates and periodic OS version upgrades. Additionally, version upgrades allow you to download the upgrade in the background and then apply it offline when you’re ready to perform the upgrade. This way, you can get all the new features and security patches without missing a beat.

To upgrade to Pop!_OS 20.04 LTS from 19.10, simply click the notification to upgrade in your OS, which will take you to the OS Upgrades tab in Settings. In 18.04 LTS, you can upgrade through the About tab.

Alternatively, type the following command into your Terminal:

pop-upgrade

Important: This upgrade includes changes and additions to your keyboard shortcuts to accommodate the arrival of Pop!_Shell. To see additional keyboard shortcuts, open the tiling menu in the top right corner of your screen and click ‘View All Shortcuts’.

Fresh installs of Pop!_OS now set your desktop environment to Dark Mode by default. If the dark side doesn’t suit your style, you can change your DE back to Light Mode in the Appearance tab in Settings.