After three years of development, Linux hardware provider System76 has declared the COSMIC desktop environment stable. It shipped COSMIC Epoch 1 as part of the long-awaited Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS release on December 11, just in time for Linux enthusiasts to have something to tinker with over the end-of-year holidays. With the stable release out the door, it seemed like a good time to check back in on COSMIC and see how it has evolved since the first alpha. For a first stable release of a new desktop environment, COSMIC shows a lot of promise and room to grow.

The Asahi Linux project has published its progress report following the release of Linux 6.18. This time around the project reports progress on many fronts, including microphone support for M2 Pro/Max MacBooks, work queued for Linux 6.19 to support USB3 via the USB-C ports, and work to improve the Asahi Linux installation experience. The project is also enabling as additional System Management Controller (SMC) drivers, which means that "the myriad voltage, current, temperature and power sensors controlled by the SMC will be readable using the standard hwmon interfaces".