The company preinstalls POP!_OS in its manufactured line of desktop and laptop computers. Although System76 created a uniquely branded GNOME-based desktop environment for the company's own hardware, it does not play Apple's Mac game of locking in its own operating system.
The distro is available for free via download in two versions. One ISO is for Intel and AMD systems, and the second ISO is for Nvidia graphics systems.
System76 announced Pop!_OS after Canonical decided to stop the development of the Unity 8 desktop shell in 2017 and replaced the in-house desktop with GNOME 3.
However, POP!_OS is not a skinned version of Ubuntu GNOME as a replacement. It involves much more.
POP!_OS comes in one flavor, a customized version of the GNOME desktop. The customization is partly why this distro is such an ideal starting point for Linux newcomers. The tweaked desktop environment does not attempt to mimic the look and feel of Windows.
Seasoned Linux users have many reasons to be attracted to POP!_OS' integration of the GNOME desktop as well. It emphasizes the continuing improvements with the GNOME UI, and adds its own special features to make this Linux OS a winning proposition for any user.

Nice Change of Pace

That is an essential design victory for System76. All too often, Linux newcomers select a distribution touted to be a Windows work-alike but when they find that Linux does not run Windows applications natively, many give up in frustration.
GNOME, on the other hand, has a very different user interface (UI). System76 makes using it so intuitive that new users are greeted with instant out-of-the-box success.
Seasoned Linux users familiar with GNOME find they can stretch their power user chops without rummaging under the hood to make complicated adjustments.
Pop!_OS fits in well with the look and feel of several modern-looking distros. That is true thanks to all of them being tweaked and integrated for a unique user interface. POP!_OS's beauty rating is on a par with the likes of the Pantheon desktop in Elementary OS, Solus OS' Budgie desktop, and Deepin and Manjaro's GNOME editions.

The New POP! GNOME

Pop!_OS is an Ubuntu 20.04-based Linux distribution built from Ubuntu repositories. It features a custom GNOME desktop. Designed to have a minimal amount of clutter on the desktop to eliminate distractions, the layout lets users focus fully on productivity.
POP!_OS is a hassle-free Linux operating system that is very user-friendly and extremely stable. The developers have done an impressive job of tailoring the classic GNOME environment to give it a unique desktop flavor. It offers the same access to software that is available from the Ubuntu family of distros.
What makes this distro so popular is the System76 team's responsiveness to user reactions and concerns about features and performance. Developers monitor user feedback and do their own in-house testing to make changes and updates to the operating system for quality-of-life improvements.
The combination of an Ubuntu base and GNOME customization makes POP!_OS a winning choice. With a new kernel, updated GNOME, a shift in the desktop theme, and a bit more eye candy, System76 takes 20.04 to a completely different level of user satisfaction.

POP!_OS Wizardry

New features and more tweaking make this release extra productive. For me, this is one of the more impressive aspects of the latest upgrade. Other iterations of GNOME 3 left me feeling held back. Desktop navigation lacked a flow.