Does this mean we wait for 8.6 before doing anything with Cosmos?

No – Cosmos Rules is available in Pega 8.3 and Cosmos React is available as a preview in 8.6

For Internal/Back Office applications where superior/brand UI is not an ask. Instead, the need is to build fast is key goal. In such cases, should we still ask the client to go for Cosmos UI or stick to Drag and Drop UI design?

The cosmos React UI will still use drag and drop and will be even more low code focused and will improve the productivity for building applications quickly

How to decide when to keep presentation layer within Pega or outside Pega and interact through DX. what are the guidelines?

It usually depends on your skillset and how you intend to reuse the Cosmos Design system - if you have your own component library, your own complete design system and front-end expertise, then using the DX API directly would be the way to go.

In 8.4 and 8.5, we already have Cosmos. Should we switch to it or it is better to wait for 8.6 for Cosmos React?

If you already have a complex application based on ui-kit, we recommend customers to wait for Cosmos React so that the migration of the application is only done once. See https://design.pega.com/getting-started-design-system for more details

In the center-out approach, if we create only the model, we don’t do any more styling within App Studio. Is that correct?

Most of the styling will come from the Cosmos OTB design system – you will be able to rebrand and re-theme the OTB components

If we are starting Pega 8.5 recommendation, should we start with Cosmos instead of UI Kit?

Yes – for new application, we recommend using Cosmos Rules instead of UI-Kit – see https://design.pega.com/getting-started-design-system

What advise do you give for a new application, possibly with Pega apps included. Should we wait or start with Cosmos ASAP?

Yes – for new application, we recommend to use Cosmos Rules instead of UI-Kit – see https://design.pega.com/getting-started-design-system

What if customer don’t want to use React for their UI?

They can continue to use the current Pega Infinity UI runtime or build their own UI using the DX API directly.

Don’t you think by restricting with limited set of templates can sometime become a big hindrance to an enterprise suite application where the enterprise wise themes do not match with the preset templates?

Customization is great but it comes always at a cost (cost to upgrade, maintenance, issue taking advantage of new features). Customers that want the flexibility can keep using the current Pega UI rendering technology and editing experience.