Pearl Linux OS has been available for free download since 12/2014 with our first release simply titled Pearl Linux. It was based on the 14.04 released version of Ubuntu. That release was using the XFCE desktop environment. Since then we now offer the MATE, GNOME, LXDE and soon to come our own DE PDE which is a DE that revolves around the Compiz Window Manager and uses elements from LXDE and XFCE4 desktops. Since the release of Pearl OS 3.0 we are now maintaining our own repository on site. The reason I felt Pearl was needed early on was the overall exceptance from the developer communities to allow pretty much Compiz to disappear. With the Linux platform you may if you choose, to maintain your own repository that can be added to whatever Linux base you choose to build on to maintain the elements you choose to keep active. Thankfully many others felt the same as I did and Compiz these days is widely exepted.
- Love Mac OSX but on Linux? Consider switching your current theme over to La Capitaine. It’s a modern, Mac-inspired icon theme. The La Capitaine icon theme doesn’t come with a Mac OSX theme of its own. That said, the developer highly recommends using the theme in combination with Arc OSX.
- Capitaine cursors. This is an x-cursor theme inspired by macOS and based on KDE Breeze. The source files were made in Inkscape, and the theme was designed to pair well with my icon pack, La Capitaine.
- Linux distributions that look like Chrome OS; Linux distributions that are inspired by MacOS. Before I show you the macOS-inspired Linux distributions, I’d like to mention Pear OS. If you’ve been keeping up with Linux for the last 4 years, you might have heard of Pear OS. To put it simply, this was the macOS of the Linux world.
- When the installation is finished, the “Install” button becomes the “Remove” button allowing you to uninstall the application, should you need to. To close the Ubuntu Software Center, click the “X” button in the upper-left corner of the window. An icon for Cairo-Dock is added to the Unity Launcher. Click the icon to start Cairo-Dock.
This simple tutorial shows how to install ‘McMojave’, a Mac OS Mojave like theme, in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.10. Following steps will first download and install the GTK theme, icons theme, and a set of wallpapers. And then apply new themes and tweak the left dock to make your Ubuntu desktop look like Mac OS X.
These days its not that easy to find many distros still using compiz for the desktop effects. Since the start of Pearl over a year ago every release at least has the option to use compiz. When using compiz it does require a bit more of the computer power to run smoothly however I, like many others really do like at least the option to play a little. For newbies to Linux there is a word of caution I'll through out there, if playing around beyond what we setup as default beware you may end up with a computer that simply wont respond at all. For this reason we have a file in your home directory called ' Pearl-Compiz-Default-Settings'. It's very easy to regain control if you went a bit too far while playing with the more wild effects offered through the compiz window manager.
For many years now I modeled Pearl as a mix between Linux Mint / Ubuntu for the system level workings. In short Ubuntu is used as the Linux Mint backend as well but like the looks of Linux Mint...acually I love Linux Mint and their awesome developer. Now as for Ubuntu...their not ranked so high for no reason. Very stable is why they are a big part in Pearl's exisistance. Not to mention the security of the system itself is maintained by them as all derivitives from Ubuntu is. What was lacking was the look and feel of Mac OS X as the main layout as Linux Mint is more like a Windows layout. Also I liked OS X in the Snow Leopard days so I keep that option inside Pearl on all releases to acually come pretty close to what Snow Leopard was back in the day. I'm not about the FLAT look which Linux has been on that kick for some time now can't wait till their is something to replace that one day. To me some themes are so flat all windows get lost inside each other... yuck. That being said, thats why everyone will soon migrate to Linux from both Mac and Windows and that is the users choice. You can make your own Linux with the tools we provide you on all of our releases. Currently we use wasta-remastersys to create our images.
We have a small basic user manual now available at http://www.pearllinux.com/Pearl3.0UserManual.
There are many versions of Pearl available for download at SourceForge.net Follow the link below to browse the many versions currently available. Each release has all the detailed information about that release at sourceforge.
Do you want to make Ubuntu look like Mac OS X? If so, we’re going to show you how to do it, step-by-step.
The whole point of using Linux is that you can do things like this
It doesn’t matter whether you have a bad case of Apple envy, or you simply appreciate the design aesthetic of Apple’s OS; there’s nothing wrong with aping the appearance of a rival operating system.
After all, the whole point of using Linux is that you are free to do things like this — and hey: you certainly can’t make macOS look like Ubuntu!
Mac Os X Linux
How To Make Ubuntu Look like a Mac
A stack of mac GTK themes, icon sets, fonts and cursors are available for Linux, just a quick Google away.
The ones included below are the ones we use/think give you the best Mac-like look on your Linux box, But don’t be afraid to explore DeviantArt, GitHub and other avenues if our choices don’t quite match with your tastes.
1. Pick the Right Desktop Environment
GNOME Shell
To achieve the most Mac-like look on Linux you need to use the most appropriate desktop environment and that is GNOME Shell.
This is not a slight against other desktop environments (DEs) as Unity, Budgie, MATE and Cinnamon can all be moulded to resemble Cupertino’s computing OS too.
But GNOME Shell is the most customisable desktop environment. This is a key ask in a task like this. GNOME Shell lets you theme and re-arrange everything you need to with the least amount hackery or fuss.
If you’re using Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or later you already have everything you need to get started, so skip ahead.
But if you don’t have GNOME Shell installed on Ubuntu you will need to install it first.
This is easy. Just click the button below and follow in the on-screen prompts (select ‘lightdm’ as the display manager when asked):
You’re also going to need to the GNOME Tweaks tool in a few steps time, so install that now too:
Once both installations are complete you need to logout and select the ‘GNOME Shell’ session from the Unity Greeter:
A word on using Unity
One thing GNOME Shell can’t offer, that the Unity desktop can, is global menu support.
Now, I don’t consider this to be a negative as more and more applications use use Client Side Decorations, making the need for a global menu redundant.
But if having an omnipresent set of app menus stripped across the top of the screen is part of the Mac experience you don’t wish to lose, stick with Unity.
2. Install a Mac GTK Theme
The single easiest way to make Ubuntu look like a Mac is to install a Mac GTK theme.
Our top recommendation is the ‘macOS Mojave’ theme by Vinceluice. This is a near-enough pixel-perfect clone of Apple’s OS skin, and is available in light and dark versions. It’s one of the best designed Mac GTK themes out there (it also has a matching GNOME Shell theme).
The ‘macOS Mojave’ theme requires GNOME 3.20 or later, so you’ll need to be running Ubuntu 16.10 or later to use it.
If you’re running the older Ubuntu 16.04 LTS release you can use the competent ‘macOS Sierra’ clone created by the B00merang project:
Tip: How To Install GTK Themes
Once you download your chosen macOS theme from the link(s) above, you will need to install it.
To install themes in Ubuntu first extract the contents of the archive you downloaded, then move the folder inside to the ~/.themes folder in your Home directory.
If you do not see this folder press Ctrl + H to reveal hidden folders. Next, find the .themes folder or create it if it doesn’t exist. Move the extract folder mentioned above to this folder.
Finally, to change theme, open GNOME Tweak Tool > Appearance and select your chosen theme (and the GNOME Shell theme, if you also downloaded one).
3. Install a Mac Icon Set
Next grab some a Mac Icon set for Linux. A quick Google will throw up a bunch of results. Most, sadly, aren’t complete enough to function as a full icon set, so you’ll also want to use (and in some cases manually specify) a fall back icon theme like Faba, or Papirus.
To avoid all of that hassle you may wish to use the fabulous ‘La Capitaine‘ icon pack.
What’s great about La Capitaine is that it’s a proper Linux icon set, with custom macOS inspired icons for many Linux apps and not just a direct port of mac icons to Linux. It’s also totally open-source, and is available to download from Github.
How to Install Icon Themes
Once you’ve downloaded your chosen theme from the link(s) above you need to install it. To do this first extract the contents of the archive you download, then move the folder inside to the ~/.icons folder in your Home directory.
If you don’t see this folder press Ctrl + H to view hidden folders. Next, find the .icons folder or create it if it doesn’t exist. Move the extract folder mentioned above to this folder.
Finally, to apply, open GNOME Tweak Tool > Appearance and select your chosen theme.
4. Change the System Font
If you’ve used Mac OS X / macOS at some point in the past few years you’ll know it has clean, crisp system typography.
‘Lucida Grande’ is the familiar Mac system font, though Apple uses a system font called ‘San Franciso’ in recent releases of macOS.
A quick Google should turn up plenty more information (and links to download San Francisco font) but be aware that neither font is not licensed for distribution — so we can’t link you to it, sorry!
Os X Vs Mac Os
Thankfully there’s an open-source alternative to ‘Lucida Grande’ called Garuda. It’s even pre-installed out of the box on Ubuntu, so you don’t need to go on a font safari to find it.
Head to GNOME Tweak Tool > Fonts and set the ‘Windows Titles’ and ‘Interface’ fonts to Garuda Regular (or any other font you wish).
If you use Unity you can use Unity Tweak Tool to change the font on Ubuntu.
5. Add a Desktop Dock
Mac Os Vs Linux
Ask people what a Mac desktop looks like and chances are they will mention its ubiqutious desktop dock. This is a combined application launcher and window switcher.
If you opted to use GNOME Shell back in Step 1 install the excellent Dash to Dock extension from the GNOME extensions site. This dock can be adjusted, tweaked and tune to look exactly like its macOS counterpart.
Mac Os X Icon For Linux Operating System
Dash to Dock doesn’t look very mac-ish by default so you will want to dive in to the GNOME Tweak Tool > Extensions > Dash to Dock > Appearance to change the colour to white, and lower the opacity.
Plank Dock
If you chose to stick with the Unity desktop you can set the Unity Launcher to hide (System Settings > Desktop > Behaviour) and install Plank, a desktop dock, to handle app launching and window switching:
Linux Mac Os
Plank can be configured with all sorts of themes too, making it easy to replicate the Mac OS X experience. Gnosemite is a faithful mac Plank theme worth a look.
That’s it; we’ve achieved our aim to make Ubuntu look like a Mac — now it’s your turn.
We’d love to see a screenshot of your mac-inspired creation so do feel free to share one in the comments.