{
  "id": 6620121,
  "title": "COSMIC Epoch 1.8 ships tablet grab, Bluetooth renaming",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/cosmic-epoch-1-8-ships-tablet-grab-bluetooth-renaming",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-10T18:24:35.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/techaiwire/cosmic-epoch-18-ships-tablet-grab-bluetooth-renaming-14cp"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "COSMIC Epoch 1.8, the newest release of System76's Rust-based desktop environment for Pop!_OS and other Linux distributions, was announced on September 10, 2026, according to Phoronix. The release arrived two weeks after version 1.7. COSMIC, developed by System76 using Rust and its Iced GUI toolkit, is not a fork of GNOME or KDE but rather a default on Pop!_OS and available for other Linux distributions.\n\nPhoronix highlighted three user-facing changes in COSMIC Epoch 1.8. Firstly, XWayland windows, which enable older, non-Wayland-native applications to run through a compatibility layer, can now start in a minimized state using the COSMIC Compositor. Secondly, COSMIC Shell has improved tablet support, allowing users to grab or capture exclusive input from a graphics tablet. Lastly, COSMIC Settings now enables users to rename connected Bluetooth devices, moving away from merely displaying default hardware names.\n\nThe official GitHub release for epoch-1.8.0, however, describes the update as only including translation updates and dependency updates for various projects across the COSMIC codebase. System76's release notes currently list these changes but lack specific feature details. Both Phoronix's and System76's reports convey the same information, albeit in different ways due to the pending status of System76's release notes. For developers, it's crucial to test COSMIC apps and tools against the new rename feature for Bluetooth devices, and to verify the behavior of apps that rely on XWayland window state when launched minimized.",
  "summary": "COSMIC Epoch 1.8 is out, the latest release of System76's Rust-based desktop environment for Pop!_OS and other Linux distributions. Phoronix reported the release on September 10, 2026, noting it arrived just two weeks after version 1.7. COSMIC is System76's own desktop environment, built with Rust and its Iced GUI toolkit, rather than a fork of GNOME or KDE. The company ships it as the default on…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}