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Mac lookalikes multiply as Linux raids Apple's wardrobe

SoftwareNovember 7, 20261 min read

A new wave of Linux desktop projects is copying the look of Apple's Mac. Some are brand new, and some are old projects brought back to life. Our tests found a few rough spots.

Linux desktops that look like macOS

Linux is strong at many things, but it is not known for good looks. A group of new projects now aims to give Linux the polished feel of a Mac. Lord OS is a new desktop built on Debian. Cutefish was revived and now has version 1.0 for both x86-64 and Arm64 chips. ClokeOS uses the Xfce desktop on top of Apple's open source XNU kernel. PearOS Linux is a Mac-like look on KDE Plasma.

Key facts

Cutefish has reached version 1.0 for x86-64 and Arm64.
Ukrainian Desert OS is at version 5.5.
Some projects offer both x86-64 and Arm64 builds, and some also have Raspberry Pi editions.
The first experimental OCLP 3.0 release came out last month. It is now at 3.0-rc5.
From 2006 to 2020, Macs used Intel x86 processors.

Why Mac-style Linux is not new

Many Linux users have wanted a Mac-like look for a long time. Modern macOS is built on Unix, so many Linux open source apps also run on Mac. Examples include Firefox, LibreOffice, and VirtualBox. Many older Intel Macs no longer get Apple updates. OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP) is a tool that lets these older Macs run newer macOS versions.

Why it matters

These projects show how fast new Linux desktops can now be built. The article suggests that AI coding tools make it much easier to add new versions for more types of computers. This could bring more users to Linux. It also gives old Macs a second life.

What to watch

Whether Cutefish's Reef layer can run Mac apps well.
Whether ClokeOS adds support for Linux, Mac, and Windows apps as planned.
Whether OCLP 3.0 leaves the testing stage and reaches a full release.
Whether PearOS adds its planned voice features, such as Siri-style speech recognition.

Glossary

Linux: A free, open source operating system, the base software that runs a computer.
Cutefish: A Linux desktop project with a Mac-like look. It was revived and reached version 1.0.
Xfce: A light desktop environment for Linux that controls windows, menus, and icons.
XNU kernel: The core part of Apple's macOS. Its open source version is used here.
OpenCore Legacy Patcher: A tool that lets older Intel Macs run newer versions of macOS that Apple no longer supports.

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