Each operating system has its own well-established legend and history. Windows is a workhorse that finds its way into virtually any category of user - from the corporate sector to housewives. Linux is a complex and capricious system, accessible only to tough programmers and system administrators. Mac is more synonymous with design and art, providing a beautiful and comfortable work environment for creativity.
However, all these attitudes came to us from the past. Today it is rash and wrong to give such unequivocal assessments. For example, the hero of today's review comes from the world of Linux, but behaves and looks like he is the bastard son of Apple.
Is a new distribution based on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. Knowledgeable people will immediately understand that this means stability, almost one hundred percent error-free and long-term support. The main principles underlying the development are simplicity, design and the absence of the need for lengthy and complex setup.
The first thing that will meet you after installing the system is the user interface. The working environment Elementary OS is its own development and is called Pantheon... It looks just great and it is impossible not to notice its similarities with Mac OS. Here we see a similar application dock at the bottom, a functional bar at the top of the screen, and the same attention to every element of the interface, as is typical for Apple.
The application launcher menu is called Slingshot and it's accessible from the left side of the top bar. Slingshot can display installed apps in various categories and has a search bar. The top panel is called Wingpanel... It is made in a minimalist spirit, contains a clock in the middle and an indicator panel on the right side.
Lower dock, codenamed Plank, works in exactly the same way as the corresponding element in OS X. It contains buttons for quick launch and displays which applications are currently running. In addition, Elementary OS Luna has the ability to display thumbnails of all windows when you move the mouse to the corner of the screen (similar to exppose) and several desktops, between which you can easily switch.
Of course, Elementary OS Luna, like other Linux distributions, contains a full package of pre-installed software. Only here preference is given to the lightest and simplest programs, the interface of which, moreover, is specially adapted for this system.
- Midori- web browser;
- Noise- music player;
- Geary- mail client;
- Shotwell- photo manager;
- Totem- video player;
- Empathy- communication on the network;
- Scratch- text editor.
Elementary OS Luna really stands out somewhat among the numerous Linux distributions family. Beautiful design, user-friendly environment, applications specially adapted for this system make it ideal for beginners or people who do not want to spend a lot of time setting up and upgrading the system. The principle of "set it up and get started right away" works great here. Add to that the stability and long-term support of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (until April 2017) and you find it really is a great choice for the job.
At the same time, experienced Linux users and those who like to dig deeper into the settings may feel a little uncomfortable here. Because they may not feel any need for their skills. Why fix something that already works?
Each operating system has its own well-established legend and history. Windows is a workhorse that finds its way into virtually any category of user - from the corporate sector to housewives. Linux is a complex and capricious system, accessible only to tough programmers and system administrators. Mac is more synonymous with design and art, providing a beautiful and comfortable work environment for creativity.
However, all these attitudes came to us from the past. Today it is rash and wrong to give such unequivocal assessments. For example, the hero of today's review comes from the world of Linux, but behaves and looks like he is the bastard son of Apple.
Is a new distribution based on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. Knowledgeable people will immediately understand that this means stability, almost one hundred percent error-free and long-term support. The main principles underlying the development are simplicity, design and the absence of the need for lengthy and complex setup.
The first thing that will meet you after installing the system is the user interface. The working environment Elementary OS is its own development and is called Pantheon... It looks just great and it is impossible not to notice its similarities with Mac OS. Here we see a similar application dock at the bottom, a functional bar at the top of the screen, and the same attention to every element of the interface, as is typical for Apple.
The application launcher menu is called Slingshot and it's accessible from the left side of the top bar. Slingshot can display installed apps in various categories and has a search bar. The top panel is called Wingpanel... It is made in a minimalist spirit, contains a clock in the middle and an indicator panel on the right side.
Lower dock, codenamed Plank, works in exactly the same way as the corresponding element in OS X. It contains buttons for quick launch and displays which applications are currently running. In addition, Elementary OS Luna has the ability to display thumbnails of all windows when you move the mouse to the corner of the screen (similar to exppose) and several desktops, between which you can easily switch.
Of course, Elementary OS Luna, like other Linux distributions, contains a full package of pre-installed software. Only here preference is given to the lightest and simplest programs, the interface of which, moreover, is specially adapted for this system.
- Midori- web browser;
- Noise- music player;
- Geary- mail client;
- Shotwell- photo manager;
- Totem- video player;
- Empathy- communication on the network;
- Scratch- text editor.
Elementary OS Luna really stands out somewhat among the numerous Linux distributions family. Beautiful design, user-friendly environment, applications specially adapted for this system make it ideal for beginners or people who do not want to spend a lot of time setting up and upgrading the system. The principle of "set it up and get started right away" works great here. Add to that the stability and long-term support of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (until April 2017) and you find it really is a great choice for the job.
At the same time, experienced Linux users and those who like to dig deeper into the settings may feel a little uncomfortable here. Because they may not feel any need for their skills. Why fix something that already works?
Making a Linux bootable USB stick in OS X couldn't be easier. Do you think so too? As it turned out, everything is not so simple. Maybe this is somehow related to the version of OS X, I have El Capitan, maybe something else. But the point is this.
Well, the recorded flash drive did not want to start in any way through Bios.
If some of you asked this question, then you might have come across a large number of articles of the same type, by the way, this method of creation is also described on the Ubuntu.ru forum. This method involves creating a bootable USB flash drive through the Unetbootin program.
After reading a sea of articles and posts that praise this way, what I get - and nothing the flash drive is bootable. I tried to do it again, and again, but the end result is the same.
As I already wrote, I do not know the reason, perhaps because of incompatibility with the version of OS X, or perhaps because the Ubuntu image, and other images of the GNU Linux operating system are distributed in ISO, and the native format of Mac OS is DMG.
And now let's look at a 100% working method I tested to create a bootable, it is also an installation flash drive for Linux Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, etc.
Creating a bootable USB flash drive in OS X (Working method)
To create a bootable flash drive, we need:
- Flash drive not less than 4 GB;
- GNU Linux operating system image. In particular, I used Linux Ubuntu, you can download it from the developers site http://ubuntu.ru/get; You can download Linux Mint from https://www.linuxmint.com
- Terminal Mac OS X.
As you will see below, the Ubuntu and Mint entry differs only in the name specified in the file path. In general, the method is suitable for recording any Linux distribution.
Convert ISO Image to DMG
Since the native format of Mac images is DMG, and the downloaded image is in ISO. We convert the downloaded to DMG format. To do this, write the following command to the terminal.
hdiutil convert -format UDRW -o ~ / Downloads / ubuntu.img ~ / Downloads / ubuntu-16.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso
Where " ~ / Downloads / ubuntu.img“Is the way to save the DMG image, and“ ~ / Downloads / ubuntu-16.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso”- the path directly to the original ISO image.
Unmount the flash drive
We extract using disk utility or terminal. The flash drive itself remains in the connector.
diskutil unmountDisk / dev / disk1
"Disk1" in this case, the sequence number determined by the system .
You can find out his number in two ways:
Method one through the terminal... We type the command:
As we can see the path to my flash drive is defined as “ / dev / disk1“.
Method two using disk utility... We open the standard Mac disk utility, select our flash drive
And we look at the name in the column: "Device". Hence the same path turns out.
Writing an image to a flash drive
Let's move on to recording the newly created DMG on a USB stick. To do this, we type the command in the terminal:
sudo dd if = ~ / Downloads / ubuntu.img.dmg of = / dev / disk1 bs = 1m
Where " ~ / Downloads / ubuntu.img.dmg”Is the path to the DMG install image we just created. " / dev / disk1"- the path to the flash drive, which we defined above, and which we unmounted using the terminal or disk utility.
After that, we wait for some time, which depends on the port speed and the recording of the flash drive. There will be no signs of recording, except for the flashing diode of the flash drive, in no case pull out the flash drive, but wait until the end of the recording.
In my case, the recording took about 20 minutes.
Never remove the flash drive or turn off the computer until the recording process is complete.
After successful writing to the USB flash drive, a window should appear in which you can click the extract button.
Short description: This article lists Linux distributions that are similar to macOS or OS X. The comparison is made in terms of similarities in looks and work with macOS.
Also, you should pay attention to our list. Among which there are those that are also similar to macOS.
There are many excellent (in terms of design) Linux distributions in the Linux world. But for some reason, people are fixated on the views of Apple's macOS.
Now, not everyone can afford or want to buy a MacBook just to use macOS. You can go for Hackintosh, but that would mean that there won't be Linux functionality, something like mine for a Linux lover like me. Linux has a ton of things to get used to and it will always be installed on disk.
It's good that Linux has endless possibilities for customization... When it comes to viewing settings, you can do wonders. Imagine Ubuntu looks like MacOS. That's quite possible.
But why bother when you have Linux distributions that mimic or are inspired by the looks of macOS. Yes, there are several MacOS similar to Linux distributions and I'm going to list them for you.
Also, check out other materials on our website:
Before I show you macOS Linux distributions, I would like to mention Pear OS.
If you are familiar with the Linux successor over the past 4 years, you may have heard of Pear OS. It was just the macOS of the Linux world. It has a bitten pear logo. It has its own pear cloud, contacts, music app, color profile, search, and more, all in Apple's macOS lineup.
But 3 years ago, Pear OS suddenly announced its demise. Apparently, it was bought by an anonymous large enterprise.
Pear OS aside, we still have a few macOS that look like a Linux distribution or are inspired by macOS. Let's take a look at them.
Note. This list is not sequential in terms of titles, and not in any particular order.
We'll cover both themes and Linux distributions similar to macOS.
1. Elementary OS
No matter how much the ElementaryOS team refuses, there are traces of macOS all over the world. The style of this distro is clearly inspired by macOS.
The bottom board isn't the only thing you can link with macOS. Look at Geary, Photos, Scratch, and more. They have a Mac feel despite being so Elementary and designed specifically for this OS.
In fact, the inspiration from MacOS is a plus for Elementary OS. Keep in mind that they don't just put the macOS theme on top of Ubuntu. They do some serious work to give the entire Elementary OS a sense of a separate OS.
Apart from the Pantheon desktop environment, designed from the ground up, this effort is quite noticeable in the applications they are forked into. This is an ecosystem where everything is created aesthetically.
Elementary OS is sufficiently protected from their ecosystem and therefore they have strict guidelines for application developers to develop their applications that blend well in the Elementary operating environment.
Another plus in regards to Elementary OS is its widespread distribution. This means that you will not end up spinning Linux, which is quite unknown, and you keep wondering where to get support and help.
If you want Linux to have a Mac and provide great community support, Elementary OS should be your first choice. Let's find out further, what kind or OS X besides this OS.
2. Macpup
Although Elementary OS is widely popular in the Linux world, few people have heard of Macpup Linux. You can guess from its name that it is a MacOS based on Puppy Linux.
Puppy Linux is one of the best lightweight Linux distros for old computers. This would make Macpup a good option for you if you have a 15-20 year old computer.
However, there is one problem with this. Its latest version is based on Precise Puppy 5.5.0, which is based on Ubuntu 12.04. Support for this version will end soon.
Moreover, I'm not sure if Macpup is actively developing. Their forum is abandoned, their website doesn't seem to have been updated in over a year.
I would not recommend that you use it for this reason. Also, I haven't even found what it looks like close to macOS. It might look like macOS in 2012, but the developers need to update the OS. Further, if we talk about Linux distributions similar to macOS, we'll talk about the next option.
3. Trenta OS
There is currently not enough information about Trenta OS. It's still under development and hasn't even reached the beta stage.
From what I could guess from the official site, as well as blogs and social media information, it is based on Ubuntu and uses the GNOME desktop environment.
The focus has been kept on the look and feel and the user interface. The Rainier theme, which mimics macOS icons, is the main USP here.
Terminal and some other common applications are also customizable to make it look like macOS.
I have no information on when the final version will be released, but you can follow them on your Twitter account to stay updated. You can also watch it on GitHub.
Now the developers are preparing only a theme for Ubuntu... That is, they transferred all the ideas with the development of the operating system to the development of the theme. Which is an even more convenient solution, because it will be enough to download the theme and install it as a shell.
4. Operating system Apicity
Apicity OS is one of my favorite Arch-based Linux distros. You can even call it a cloud Linux distribution center. Although the first stable version was released just a few months ago, it has already amassed a good user base.
Apicity's operating system may not be exactly the same as macOS, but it does have a slight feel. It's a clean user interface based on GNOME and beautiful icon themes make it a stunning looking Linux distribution.
MacOS look the same or not, if one day you want to switch to "Arch" consider Apicity OS among your options.
5. Gmac Linux
Gmac is not suitable for GNOME + Mac. Unlike the aforementioned macOS, which are similar to Linux distributions, Gmac is not a complete distribution. It's just a GNOME desktop with a Mac theme.
This means you get Ubuntu Linux with a highly customized GNOME desktop that looks a lot like macOS. It also means you don't have to go through all the setup yourself to make Ubuntu look like MacOS. Gmac already does this for you. Alternatively, you can keep your Ubuntu distribution.
One weird thing about Gmac Linux is the weird logo, which is a combination of the GNOME and Apple logo.
Translation from an excellent English resource itsFoss.
Your choice?
While the obsession with the macOS look is one thing, you'll have to admit that Apple has a good sense of design. And it affects others in some way. To be honest, I feel like the Unity Ubuntu desktop environment is heavily inspired by macOS. Because the designers were able to make something really comfortable. We hope you were interested in learning about Linux distributions similar to macOS or OS X and you'll install one from our list.
What do you think of macOS-like Linux distributions? Is this funny or just trying to provide a good user experience to end users? What is your opinion on this?
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