Mac OSX Look-Alike Linux?
 

Hello.
Up until recently, I have always been a hardcore Windows user. (Don't hate me!)
However, I have recently been looking for a Linux Distro that closely resembles the Macintosh OSX interface. After Weeks of Googleing on the subject, I have come up empty-handed. I and hoping that somebody could point me in the direction of a (REALLY) good theme or a complete distro (perferred) that would accomplish this.


I currently have a Dell Dimension 8300 Desktop with:

120 GB SATA Drive <---Has been a problem with previous distros
1 GB of RAM
2.8 GHz Intel P4 HT Processor
External BACKPACK 40GB HD <---EXTREMELY important to have work with linux
NVidia GeForce FX 5200 <---Using split desktop (2 monitors=double the desktop space)
DVD-ROM and DVD+RW 4x Drives
Creative! Sound Blaster Live! w/5.1 Surround Speakers
PixelView PlayTV ProUltra TV Tuner Card <--- Also Important
============
Windows XP SP2
---AND---
Mandrake 10 <--- Currently not working, failed attempt
Dual boot
============

Let me know if you need any other info.
-THANK YOU :newbie:

Something like this; http://mepislovers.com/modules/myalb...p?lid=52&cid=1

Not quite. Close though.
I'm going for a look where if you sat down at the computer, you would think it's a true Mac OSX system.


Also, I should mention that even if I do find a theme I like, I haven't the slightest clue how to implement it.

Can I be brutal here? I think that you need to be honest with yourself about what you want. If you are a committed Windows user -- stick with Windows and good luck. If you want to use a linux distro, install one and start using it. Once you've got to grips with it, start thinking about how you'd like it to look. It can probably look like anything you want --- even 0SX :) Why do you want it to look like 0SX? I don't want to know the answer to that question -- I want you to think about it. Perhaps you need to buy a Mac with 0SX installed???? I'm not trying to put you off here --- certainly not --- but I'm not sure you are making yourself clear or life easy for yourself!!

Good luck!

Good Points.
Basically, I am definitely a windows user and always will be.
However, I have used Macs before and all the Pre-OSX interfaces were-in my opinion-ugly. However, when I came across OSX for the first time, I fell in love with it. I felt like I was cheating on Microsoft (hehe). Since then, I have wanted to be able to have the Mac OSX interface available to me, but I don't have the space or the money to buy a second machine. So, I figure that there HAS to be some kind of Linux Distro that emulates Mac OSX.
Simply Put, I want to have both on one machine, but since Apple hasn't issued a Intel-based OS, I turned to Linux.

-Thanks again.

I don't think your switching to linux for the right reasons here at all, again I don't want to discourage you but linux isn't really about the gui, it's the exact opposite. Why not just skin windows to look like osx? There's plenty of stuff out there to do it like stylexp, windowsblinds... etc..

Uhhhh, not 100% true there. Apple have released the source for Darwin and in turn an Intel port.

Hey...nobody mentioned Pear PC.
http://apple.weblogsinc.com/entry/2645411320818498/

You can run mac programs on windows......
Very slowly....Program is getting better I hear. This option might take some time to pan out.

Hey you could alway sell your what sounds to me to be a really nice computer (Jealous), :cry: and buy a g4 power pc or the new g5 all in one thing.

Or just stay with win and get window shades and skin the hell out of it to look like OSX.

Or try linux and find a distro that will fit you needs. Most windows managers can be made to be quite pleasing to the eye.

Whatever.... just my input.

opps I forgot...
If you go with the sell your computer and buy a mac option. You could run virtual pc to run your windows apps.

Status Update
 

Well, more than a year later, and a lot smarter, I'd figure I should fill you in on my solution.

In a breadth of amazing luck, I won (who knows how, I never entered) a brand-new eMac running OSX 10.4, solving my problems of wanting an OS X interface and a linux distro to work with.

I now spend more time in the UNIX terminal of my eMac than I do with the interface.

I have gone from Microsoft whore to a Windows/Mac/Linux lover. (Yeah, I know, I should see a therapist ASAP.)

Oh, and Windows Vista is actually a really nice OS, and no, Microsoft is not paying me to say that. The only big problem is that it's just a resource whore.

Being a Microsoft Offical Beta Tester has it's advantages. :D

-Donut

=========
Dell Dimension 8300
Windows Vista b2/Win XP dual boot
2.8GHz Pentium 4 HT
120GB SATA Primary Drive
200GB SATA Secondary Drive (for all my animé, of course)
40GB External Backpack HD (currently empty)
1GB PC3200 RAM
Dual DVD-ROM & DVD+RW Drives
nVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Creative Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 w/ THX Certified Surround System
PixelView PlayTV Ultra TV Tuner Card
TI FireWire PCI card
=========
eMac G4 1.25GHz
OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
40GB ATA HD
CD-ROM Drive
256MB RAM
(Hey, for a free computer, it's not bad)
=========
768D/256UKbps Deticated ADSL Line (BitTorrent Halleauhah chorus)

Do you get the latest virus first? :D

Actually, no.

I don't want to sound like a MS spokesperson, but Microsoft really did their homework on this one.

Windows Vista is actually a really good OS, and Windows OneCare (their firewall/antivirus/backup program) in my opinion, outstrips McAfee antivirus and is on par with Norton Internet Sercurity. The only problem is that microsoft wants to overcharge people for it. (3-computer subscription for $50)

Oh, on that note, you have heard about how Macs really should start getting protection themselves, right? The more devious programmers are starting to target OS X, strange as it sounds, and the intel core is completely irrelevant to vunerability.
Symantec has already started developing a nice AV for the Mac, but the problem is the headstrong-ed-ness of most Mac owners, blissfully ignorant of the new threats.

I wouldn't be suprised (well, I would be a little bit) if MS tried to turn out "Macintosh OneCare". I'm sure that will be a big hit. :rolleyes:


.

I love follow ups. Thanks.
It should all come down to what OS does the job best for you. I like Linux for most thing, but I still run most games on my xp64 box.

I saw some screenshots off digg yesterday of Vista. It looks allright. We'll see someday.
I will look forward to it the way I am looking forward to the PS3. I am sure both will dissapoint me on some level.




Regards,
Blair

Any distro can look like a mac.. although the enlightenment desktop looks really really close... you could always just download that..

I don't know if I should be
a) sorry for digging this thread up or if I will be
b) sorry for not opening a new one just for this link:

Go here: SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 (acronym intended?;)) and then view the Desktop Demo either in your browser as flash or download the .mpg (just the first 220GB include the actual demo).

It's basically a presentation of how far Linux has come in the terms of 'user-friendliness' and eye-candy by employing Xgl. It also seems as if they (SUSE developers?) have successfully cloned (ripped off?) Exposé, Spotlight and other tidbits that add to that flashy Mac OS X experience.

Personally, I'm all for usability for everybody, not just for people with bleeding-edge hardware. I wish they had been a bit more specific* about the hardware specifications of the maschine that's being used.

* One of the guys mentions that any computer that is a couple of years old would do.

Of course you could try to replicate some of the OS X stuff step by step by finding an equivalent for every OS X application, but it's simply put probably not worth it anyway. The only reason I can see is to impress your family and friends, which they won't be, since you're never going to duplicate the 'snappiness' and homogenous look entirely.

If you're just out for the eye-candy, you could try http://flyakiteosx.com on Windows XP and see if it's really that meaningful to you.

i stumbled upon this on google.
 

well if you would like to run mac on your pc, just wait until 2007, dell made a deal with apple to increase their software sales so pc's will beable to legally run mac os x. that means that people illigelly run mac, so you can run mac on your pc, just not legally because of the intel switch. i never used linux but i heard its really great. you can skin your windows to look like mac, its hard to make it act and feel like one. i gave up on doing that, and flyakite prevents a lot of programs from working with changing file names. something you would want to search that might interest you is "osx86", remember you didn't hear it from me.

Dreamlinux
 

Go to www.dreamlinux.com.br and grab Dreamlinux. It's an installable Live CD based on Morphix/Debian.It has some Mac OS X-like features, like a dock that zooms, Mac-like Window decorations, a lot of screensavers, some awesome software(gtkpod, xmms, blender, Audacity, GIMP, iceweasel, panel xmms remote etc.).However, don't use it as an absolute replacement, because it has strange bugs and problems. I haven't found out how to put stuff into the dock[you can modify the setting with a term, use engage --help], gtkpod doesn't work from the dock, you need to use the executable in /usr/bin, Archive manager doesn't work, and mplayer crashes often. It needs work, but its concept is awesome, and is worth a look.

You mean Microsoft slut, right? Whores get paid. :D Sorry, couldn't resist.

Now that it's 2007, I have to say, the new MacBooks are awesome. I'm actually considering getting one (but not until OS X "Leopard" is released). Once I get my mitts on a MacBook running Leopard, it's going to be dual booted. :)

No one mentioned the core of Mac OS has always been BSD UNIX, a free UNIX distribution with a slightly different license than Linux. The reason developers like Linux is people can't copy your code, integrate it into their own program, and then make money with it. The BSD license allows anyone to pick up a development tree and develop the existing sources into whatever they want, and then sell it. The problem with using BSD is Mac OS uses proprietary programs to work with .dmg installation files. So even if you install the core OS, unless you buy a Mac you can't install any Mac software or drivers. Technically the sources for a Mac OS could be used with UNIX or Linux, but they are packaged in a container such that they are unusable. If you go to the developer section of apple.com you will find most of the operating system that they give away for free, minus proprietary tools.

I get tired of people who tell others what they should or should not do with Linux. I am a MacOS user, but have Linux on a Dell Latitude e5400 that serves as a backup desktop. If people want their Linux to look like OS X, then that is their prerogative. They don't need an .... asking, "Why do you want it to look like OSX?" Because they .... well can! That is one of the reasons people use Linux either as a backup or an alternative, so they can customize it. We are all members of the Linux body. Don't be the ...!

If you look hard enough you can always find something to get offended about. I don't see anybody telling anyone else what to do here, some just some freely offered advice (which you can choose to follow or ignore).

Anyway, that was over 10 years ago.

One of the reasons some of us use Linux & BSD, is not to have the OS get in our way, a simple window manager is all that is needed GUI wise, but the command line is where all the power is. :)

Where did this come from? :doh:

Good Grief! THIS IS A 14 YEAR OLD ZOMBIE POST! Life has moved on.

Please let it rest in peace!

Play Bonny!

:hattip:

You might want to take a look at these:
Elementary OS
http://elementary.io
Deepin
https://www.deepin.org/en/
Ubuntu
https://www.ubuntu.com/

BTW, you can probably download any Linux distro and use a bunch of icon themes, etc. to make it look totally like Mac.

I agree: Elementary is as "OSX" as it could get. However, if you want to enjoy the full Mac experience, why don't you just move to macOS?

I doubt very much if the Op will read this. Only had 10 posts, the last was 21st of May 2006 @ 08:33 (See post #3)

It sometimes pays to read all the previous posts before replying... (Yup! We've all done it!)

Play Bonny!

:hattip:

Nah, too much text...

You can make any distro look like a Mac or anything else.

ElementaryOS does this, cairo-dock does this (can be added to any distro), Plank (dock) can do this, Gnome3 can do this, Mate, Xfce etc....There is nothing revolutionary about Mac or Windows UI.

OMG, there I go again, responding to new posts without realizing someone reanimated a corpse.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...LivingDead.jpg

This post is so old the OP might be deceased by now!

No, no, no! He's resting!

Once again I politely repeat my request to the site owners that threads older than a certain age should be automatically locked. "There are trolls and bots out there ..."

- - - - -

Both OS/X (which Apple has lately resumed calling "MacOS," hoping that thoughts of "System 9" have by now been forgotten), and the iOS that runs your smart-phone, are Unix.®

And, as a daily user of such a system, I'm reminded of just how much of that system is based on open-source standards (other than the Mach kernel itself), just with an "Apple® Shine" applied to it. Yes, in fact you easily can make Linux "look, smell, and taste" almost exactly like OS/X, if you so choose.