Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Why does Linus Tech Tips keep choosing Pop!_OS?

I've always wondered why Linus keeps coming back to Pop!_OS whenever he does a Linux daily-driver challenge. And apparently, I'm not the only one — there's been plenty of debate in the LTT community about whether Pop!_OS is actually the right choice.

So instead of just wondering, I decided to install Pop!_OS myself and daily drive it for 10 days.

I tested everything from the new COSMIC desktop and software installation to gaming performance, Steam, MangoHud, and everyday tasks. I also tested it on an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X with an RX 9060 XT and 16GB of RAM to see how well Pop!_OS performs without the NVIDIA hardware it's particularly known for supporting.

And while the gaming performance surprised me, I ran into quite a few weird bugs along the way.



00:00 intro
00:35 what makes Pop os different from other distros?
02:07 installing pop os
03:15 steam didn't want to work
05:20 gaming performance
07:40 I used pop OS for 10 days
09:00 why does Linus keep choosing pop OS?
11:40 would I recommend pop! OS