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⇱ COSMIC Desktop's Frosted Glass Is Giving Windows Aero Vibes - Phoronix


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COSMIC Desktop's Frosted Glass Is Giving Windows Aero Vibes

Written by Michael Larabel in Desktop on 2 June 2026 at 05:38 AM EDT. 45 Comments
Some of the latest feature work for the Rust and Wayland based COSMIC desktop environment is on creating their new "Frosted Glass" appearance. It's getting closer to release and giving off Windows Aero vibes for that design language from the Windows Vista days.

System76 CEO Carl Richell shared on X yesterday that COSMIC Frosted Glass is "getting closer" with plans to make the effect subtle by default but can be made glassier depending on user preference. Or, disabled outright.

Here are some of the latest development screenshots that Carl posted on X for those interested:

👁 COSMIC Frosted Glass heavy


👁 COSMIC Frosted Glass


Yay or nay? Share your thoughts on this latest COSMIC work by commenting in the forums. To me it reminds me of Windows Aero or some of the prototype screenshots back during the Windows Longhorn period.

If all goes well this could be rolling out soon to the COSMIC desktop with the effect being built into the COSMIC compositor and libcosmic toolkit.

Michael Larabel is the principal author of Phoronix.com and founded the site in 2004 with a focus on enriching the Linux hardware experience. Michael has written more than 20,000 articles covering the state of Linux hardware support, Linux performance, graphics drivers, and other topics. Michael is also the lead developer of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software. He can be followed via Twitter, LinkedIn, or contacted via MichaelLarabel.com.