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For KDE developer Niccolò Venerandi, the answer to “should I switch to COSMIC?” is no—but his reason is personal attachment to KDE Plasma, not a claim that COSMIC falls short. His comparison highlights different strengths: Plasma’s long-established customization and community, COSMIC’s theming, and the importance of application support and individual workflow.
What Venerandi says about COSMIC
OSNews reported on 6 October 2026 that KDE contributor and developer Niccolò Venerandi had revisited System76’s COSMIC desktop after almost a year. Venerandi said development in the intervening period had focused largely on stability, while also bringing user-facing changes he appreciated. He asked whether he should switch and answered no, explicitly because he is attached to KDE Plasma. OSNews
That is one developer’s assessment, not an official KDE position or a universal recommendation. Venerandi’s original article, published by LibreNews on 16 September 2026, presents the comparison as an appreciation of COSMIC alongside an explanation of why he prefers to stay with Plasma. LibreNews
Where Plasma and COSMIC differ
Customization and maturity
Venerandi credits Plasma’s long history, modularity, and established community with producing a level of customization that COSMIC does not aim to match. He describes Plasma as having existed for more than 25 years; that figure is his characterization in his September 2026 article, not an independently verified statistic. This is a meaningful distinction if you enjoy tailoring many parts of a desktop environment.
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Theming and design
Venerandi says COSMIC’s theming options are among the changes he admires. His praise does not amount to a claim that COSMIC is categorically better designed, nor does it establish a feature-by-feature comparison. It signals that a desktop can have worthwhile design choices even if it does not match Plasma’s customization breadth.
Applications and toolkit concerns
OSNews raises a separate practical concern: COSMIC has a smaller ecosystem of applications built with its Rust-based toolkit, so users may also rely on apps from the GTK and Qt toolkit families. That is OSNews’s assessment, not a measured application count or evidence that all GTK and Qt applications look or behave inconsistently. The available comparison does not establish compatibility across distributions.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to decide whether to switch
Venerandi’s answer is shaped by his own attachment to Plasma. To make the choice for yourself, consider which trade-offs matter in your daily use:
- Choose continuity with Plasma if its customization, modularity, community, or established workflow is important to you.
- Give COSMIC a serious look if its design and theming appeal to you, and you are comfortable evaluating how its application ecosystem fits your needs.
- Judge your actual applications rather than relying on broad claims about toolkit appearance or compatibility; the cited coverage does not provide a tested app-by-app comparison.
Neither Venerandi’s preference nor OSNews’s ecosystem concern proves that one desktop is best for every reader. The useful takeaway is that COSMIC can offer changes Venerandi appreciates without persuading a Plasma user to leave a familiar environment.
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