[5][6] Pop!_OS is maintained primarily by System76, with the release version source code hosted in a GitHub repository.

Unlike many other Linux distributions, it is not community-driven, although outside programmers can contribute, view and modify the source code.

[9][10] There is a GUI toggle in the GNOME system menu for switching between different video modes on dual GPU laptops.

[citation needed] TensorFlow and CUDA enabled programs can be added by installing packages from the Pop!_OS repositories without additional configuration required.

[14] From the 21.04 release, Pop!_OS included a new customized GNOME desktop environment called COSMIC, an acronym for "Computer Operating System Main Interface Components" developed by System76.

It features separate views for workspaces and applications, a dock included by default, and supports both mouse-driven and keyboard-driven workflows.

The appropriate ISO file may be downloaded and written to either a USB flash drive or a DVD using tools such as Etcher or UNetbootin.

[25] Bertel King of Make Use Of reviewed version 17.10, in November 2017 and noted, "System76 isn't merely taking Ubuntu and slapping a different name on it."

"[26] Version 18.04 added power profiles; providing easy GPU switching, especially for Nvidia Optimus equipped laptops; HiDPI support; full-disk encryption and access to the Pop!_OS repository.

It included a new Linux kernel, graphic stack, theme changes, and updated applications, along with improvements to the Pop!_Shop software store.

Certainly, nothing that would make me recommend it over regular Ubuntu 19.04 ..."[14] In addition to incremental updates, version 19.10 introduced Tensorman, a custom TensorFlow toolchain management tool, multilingual support and a new theme based on Adwaita.

[35] In examining Pop!_OS 20.04 beta, FOSS Linux editor, Divya Kiran Kumar noted, "with its highly effective workspaces, advanced window management, ample keyboard shortcuts, out-of-the-box disk encryption, and myriad pre-installed apps.

"[36] Jason Evangelho reviewed Pop!_OS in FOSS Linux January 2020 and pronounced it the best Ubuntu-based distribution.

reviewer Joey Sneddon wrote of Pop!_OS 20.04, "It kinda revolutionizes the entire user experience".

[41][42] Beta News reviewer Brian Fagioli in particular praised the availability of fractional scaling and stacking and noted "what the company does with Pop!_OS, essentially, is improve upon Ubuntu with tweaks and changes to make it even more user friendly.

[16] It included the COSMIC (Computer Operating System Main Interface Components) desktop, based on GNOME, but with a custom dock and shortcut controls.

[16][44] Writing in OMG Ubuntu, Joey Sneddon noted, "COSMIC puts a dock on the desktop; separates workspace and applications into individually accessible screens; adds a new keyboard-centric app launcher (that isn't trying to search all the things™ by default); plumbs in some much-needed touchpad gestures; and — as if all of that wasn't enough — makes further refinements to its unique window tiling extension (which you're free to toggle on/off at any point)."

He continued, "Pop!_OS 21.04 is sort of what Ubuntu could — some might say 'should' — be: a distro that doesn't patronise its potential users by fixating on an idealised use case drawn up in a meeting.

It included GNOME 40, a new "Vertical Overview" extension, a new Applications menu, and support for Raspberry Pi.