Turn Your Ubuntu Hardy to Mac OSX Leopard
You can’t really turn a Linux system to a Mac, but you definitely can make your Ubuntu Hardy looks like a Mac OSX Leopard.
If you want to change this
into
, follow the steps below.
Before we start…
First, create a folder in your Home and name it Mac_files. Download the following files to the Mac_files folder.
Using Archive manager, extract the three Mac4Lin zip files Modified Mac4Lin theme and Mac4Lin wallpaper to the Mac_files folder.
Apply Mac OSX Leopard Theme
Go to System->Preferences->Appearance.
Select Install and select the Mac4Lin GTK theme (/home/username/Mac_files/Mac4Lin_v0.4/GTK Metacity Theme/Mac4Lin_GTK_v0.4.tar.gz).
Next, click Install again and select the Mac4Lin icon theme. (/home/username/Mac_files/Mac4Lin_Icons_Part2_v0.4.tar.gz /home/username/Mac_files/Mac4Lin_Icons_modified.tar.gz). When prompted, select “Apply new themes“.
Click Install again and select the Mac4Lin mouse cursor theme. (/home/username/Mac_files/Mac4Lin_v0.4/GTK Cursor Theme/Mac4Lin_Cursors_v0.4.tar.gz). Select “Apply new themes” when prompted.
Click ‘customize’ and choose Mac4Lin_GTK_v0.4. Go to the “Window border” tab, choose Mac4Lin_GTK_v0.4. Click Close.
On the top, go to the Background tab. Click Add and select the Leopard wallpaper. (/home/username/Mac_files/Wallpapers/Leopard.jpg). Click Close to terminate the Appearance window
Install the Dock (Avant Window Navigator)
Open a terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal) and type
gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
and add the following lines to the end of the file:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/awn-testing/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/awn-testing/ubuntu hardy main
Save and close the file. In your terminal, type
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install avant-window-navigator-trunk awn-manager-trunk awn-extras-applets-trunk
Go to System->Preferences->AWN manager. On the left, click on the Theme. On the right, click Add and navigate to the Mac_files folder. Select the Elegant_glass.tgz file. Check the bullet beside the Elegant glass theme and click Apply.
Next on the left, click on the Applet icon. On the right, scroll down to the stack Applet. Highlight it, then click Activate. This will add the Mac Leopard stack to your dock.
Before you launch the AWN, remove the bottom panel from the desktop first. Right click on the bottom panel and select “delete this panel”. Open AWN via Applications->Accessories->Avant Window Navigator. Once it is activated, you can simply drag and drop the applications into the dock.
Install OSX Fonts
Open a terminal and type the following:
sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts
This will Install the Microsoft core fonts.
Next, copy the OSX fonts to the fonts folder
cd /usr/share/fonts
sudo tar xvzf /home/username/Mac_files/Mac4Lin_v0.4/Fonts/OSX_Fonts.tar.gz
Configure the fonts:
cd/
sudo tar xvjpf /home/username/Mac_files/Mac4Lin_v0.4/Fonts/fontconfig.tbz -C /etc/fonts
Open the Appearance window (System->Preferences->Appearance) and select Fonts tab. Select the following fonts according to the image below. Click Close.
Change the traffic light window control to the left
In the terminal, type
gconf-editor
This will bring up the gconf-editor window. Scroll down to App->Metacity->general. On the right, double click on the button_layout and change the content to ‘close,minimize,maximize:menu’ (without the quote). Click Ok and close the gconf-editor.
Change the menubar
Remove all the icon and applications on the left side of the top panel. Right-click on the icon and select ‘Remove from panel‘. You will left with something like this:
On the right of the top panel, remove the logout icon. Still on the right hand side of the top panel, right click and select ‘Add to panel‘. Scroll down the list and add ‘Search for files‘. This will add the spotlight icon to the panel.
On the extreme left, right-click and select ‘Add to panel‘. Scroll down the list and add ‘Main Menu‘. This will add the apple icon on the left. You can now log out and shut down from the Apple dropdown menu (same as Mac OSX).
Next, we are going to install globalmenu so as to display the menubar for each application. In your terminal,
cd Mac_files
wget http://gnome2-globalmenu.googlecode.com/files/gnome-globalmenu-0.4-svn964.tar.gz
tar zxvf gnome-globalmenu-0.4-svn964.tar.gz
cd globalmenu
sudo dpkg -i *.deb
If you have any errors when installing the package, try
sudo dpkg -i –force-overwrite *.deb
If you are having some installation problems with the gnome-globalmenu-applet, try
sudo apt-get install -f
Once finished, right click on the top panel and select ‘Add to panel‘. Scroll down the list and add ‘Global Menu Applet‘.
You might not see anything initially. Log out and log in again, you should now see the menubar for each application showing on the panel.
If your globalmenu is of a different shade of grey from the rest of the panel (as shown in the image below), right click on any empty space on the panel and select ‘Properties‘. Go to Background tab and select ‘Background image’. Under the selection, go to /home/username/.themes/Mac4Lin_GTK_v0.4/gtk-2.0/Panel and select panel-bg.png. Click OK. (Updated: If you can’t find the .themes folder, right-click and select ‘show hidden files‘.)
Drag the globalmenu to the left just beside the Apple icon. Right click on the globalmenu and select ‘Preferences’. Tick the box beside ‘Display the title of the current application‘ and put maximum width 100. Select the font to be Lucida Grande Bold. Click Apply and OK. You should now have a desktop that resemble Mac Leopard.
Configuring the Login screen
Click on the Apple icon, go to System->Administration->Login Window. On the Local tab, click Add. Navigate to the path /filesystem/home/username/Mac_files/Mac4Lin_v0.4/GDM Theme and select the file Mac4Lin_GDM_v0.4.tar.gz. Check the box beside the newly installed theme to activate it.
Underneath, there is a color selection field, select it and key in the number E5E5E5 into the color code field.
Click Ok. Log out. You should see the login screen as the diagram below.
Configure usplash screen
usplash is the screen that you see when your computer is booting up. We are going to change it to show the white apple screen. In your terminal,
sudo apt-get install startupmanager
Go to System->Administration->Start-Up Manager Go to Appearance tab. Click on the ‘Manage bootloader theme‘. Click Add and navigate to the file /filesystem/home/username/Mac_files/Mac4Lin_v0.4/GRUB Splash/appleblack.xpm.gz. Check the box “Use background image for bootloader menu” and select ‘appleblack”.
Next, click “Manage usplash theme”. Click Add and add the file /filesystem/home/username/Mac_files/Mac4Lin_v0.4/USplash Theme/osx-splash.so. Click OK. Select OSX-splash from the dropdown box.
Now reboot. You should see the following images:
Creating Dashboard effect
We will use a combination of screenlets and Compiz widget plugin to achieve the dashboard effect.
Install Screenlets
sudo apt-get install screenlets compizconfig-settings-manager
Go to System->Preferences->Advanced Desktop Effect Setting. On the Left, click on Desktop. On the right, put a check beside ‘Widget layer’
Go to Accessories->Screenlets. Activate the widgets that you want to display. Right click on the widget and select ‘Properties’. Go to Options tab and select ‘Treat as widget’. Do this for all the widgets that you have activated.
You can now see your dashboard in action by pressing F9.
Done. You have completed the transformation of your Ubuntu desktop to Mac OSX Leopard.
Some screenshots:
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214 Comments Received
This is a really great tutorial. Well done.
Why ?
[...] la interfaz de Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard es una de los objetivos más populares.Y como indican en MakeTechEasier, si queréis pasar de [...]
HOW DARE YOU!!! You violated Ubuntu with that evil evil mac look!!! You are hereby cursed to be mauled be herons for the rest of your short life!!!
(no seriously though why would you want Ubuntu to look like a leper, there are plenty of great Linux themes)
[...] É simples basta seguir este tutorial! [...]
Just in case some of you are wondering why I choose to emulate the Mac Leopard, my main purpose is to highlight and showcase the flexibility and user-friendliness of Linux desktop, and its ability to customize the theme to what you want. While I can easily create a nice Linux theme, the effect will not be as great as emulating the Mac Leopard.
[...] http://maketecheasier.com/turn-your-ubuntu-hardy-to-mac-osx-leopard/2008/07/23 [...]
Fair play. I love linux and have been an avid user for years, I think it’s nice to be able to show people a leopard can change its spots.
This is great! Unfortunately I ran into this error when trying to run Avant Window Navigator: Error: Screen isn’t composited. Please run compiz (-fusion) or another compositing manager.
I’m thinking this is because I was running it in a virtual machine. I will have to experiment on a dedicated machine to really find out.
Hi! I was trying to follow your tutorial (great by the way) but when I try to install the new theme I got the message: “Mac4Lin_v0.4″ does not appear to be a valid theme. Could you please help me? I’m using ubuntu 8.04 on i386
thanks a lot
[...] Turn Your Ubuntu Hardy to Mac OSX Leopard Easy to Learn, Easy to Work and Easy to Play. Share photos of your travels without waiting till you get home. [...]
There needs to a section on configuring compiz to look like leopard.
[...] Ubuntu Look Like OSX July 23, 2008 — Matt http://maketecheasier.com/turn-your-ubuntu-hardy-to-mac-osx-leopard/2008/07/23/ Posted in linux, [...]
Wow dude well written indeed.
JT
http://www.FireMe.To/udi
I can understand Linux as a desktop OS, that’s fine.
Why would you want to turn it in to a fake Mac? The original Mac OS dock isn’t that great from a usability stand point to begin with, never mind some cheesy open-source clone.
It seems like there’s quite a few Linux (desktop) users that spend more time playing with themes/icons/widgets than doing actual work.
It’s a well written article, but the whole concept seems pretty nerdy/lame.
Why don’t you just buy a mac?
Very cool. Thanks.
Really loving these Linux tweaks! one day soon my old Vaio will be rid of windows and officially on Linux, thanks to posts like these……nice, simple and effective.
Thanks for this great article. Very detailed instructions.
Shows you what Linux is capable of. Nice, you can make ubuntu look like anything, even vista (urk - I know)
Now how do you uninstall it.
Well written tutorial - but the sad fact remains that there is such a demand of changing the default Ubuntu desktop at all.
The current brownish theme is disturbing, to say the least, for most of new Linux users or wannabee users. I dont understand why the Ubuntu Artwork Team does not get this. Ubuntu is losing hundreds of thousands new users because of its dead ugly desktop appearance.
BTW, your captcha is really hard to read even for humans…..
What a shame !
I unfortunately got to agree with trev….
Most people spend all their time making everything look nice, i personally would rather go through the hassle of installing mac os x86 then faking an ubuntu installation to kinda half look like leopard..
[...] blog Maketeacheassier publica hoy un howto muy bien explicado, para pasar Ubuntu Hardy por el quirófano y dejarlo como un [...]
Although I will most likely not use the Leopard theme, it is great to see just how flexible Ubuntu really is! Great tutorial though for anyone interested. Great job!
Why bother.
Mac is not better, just a follower in this respect.
Mandriva stays put and so does Ubuntu.
You want a Mac, buy one. Why be a look alike.
*Facepalm* What the fuck is this failure? Mac4Lin 1.0 is about to be released in a few days.
Turn Your Ubuntu Hardy to Mac OSX Leopard - Make Tech Easier | nerdd.net…
\r\nYou cant really turn a Linux system to a Mac, but you definitely can make your Ubuntu Hardy look…
I don’t get all these nay sayers. It’s just a theme. I like the look of it but prefer linux in general. Just because people are changing the theme does not mean they want to use Mac.
Linux is Linux, Mac is Mac and Windows is Windows despite the look or feel. This is like people argueing that using X on a nix is stupid. People can use what ever the hell they like and it’s just good that Linux gives them the option to do so. It proves it versatility.
Apologies for the poor spelling.
Applied this to my older laptop and gave it to my mom. Result: pleased.
I wouldn’t use it myself, but that doesn’t mean someone else couldn’t be happy with it.
That looks pretty awesome. Gonna give this a try, nice tutorial by the way. Dugg.
WOW! thanks for using my AWN theme in your tutorial
And when you decide to (try to) go back to a more standard theme you’ll have to undo the font aliasing that was put in place. With this:
cd /etc/fonts
sudo rm alias.conf local.conf misc.conf msfonts-rules.conf
[...] Make Ubuntu Look Like Mac OS X If you’ve been looking for a way to spice up your Ubuntu machine with a little Mac pizzazz this guide is exactly what you need. [...]
Good stuff. So, I decided to follow your steps on a brand new install. Everything worked like a charm, except the usplash screen. Any ideas?
Anand
[...] Turn Your Ubuntu Hardy to Mac OSX Leopard - Make Tech Easier (tags: ubuntu linux mac howto osx) [...]
[...] Turn Your Ubuntu Hardy to Mac OSX Leopard - Make Tech Easier (tags: ubuntu mac) [...]
[...] Turn Your Ubuntu Hardy to Mac OSX Leopard (tags: linux ubuntu mac fun) [...]
[...] Turn Your Ubuntu Hardy to Mac OSX Leopard - Make Tech Easier (tags: ubuntu linux mac howto desktop) [...]
[...] Turn Your Ubuntu Hardy to Mac OSX Leopard - Make Tech Easier (tags: ubuntu) [...]
I successfully got this to work on an actual machine. I appears that this tutorial, as far as i can tell or want to figure out :), will not work on a virtual machine, virtualbox specifically.
Great work!
@nexusgx: Other than the AWN dock and screenlets, all other configuration will work on a virtual machine, especially VirtualBox. I know it because most of the screenshots are taken from my VirtualBox VM.
very creative……
like your ideas….
[...] Guia. [...]
[...] Então siga estas instruções… [...]
[...] Ubuntu Hardy to Mac OSX Leopard”. The guide was written by MAKETECHEASIER and can be found here. Now while it doesn’t feature all the iApplications that you would get with your Mac OS X, it [...]
This tuto lacks of something very important. 32 bits only. It does not work on a 64 bits OS.
All okay until you arrive to globalmenu for amd64.
it’s time to try tu unistall… or better to reinstall. thanks
[...] Que tal Mac OS no Ubuntu? ^^ 25 07 2008 http://maketecheasier.com/turn-your-ubuntu-hardy-to-mac-osx-leopard/2008/07/23/ [...]
gato: no puedo instalar el global menu, me parece que ese paquete corre solo sobre AMD, que onda??
after I installed the theme, icons, and cursors, the traffic lights remained grey rather than the apple three colors… is there a way to fix that?
[...] Got Leopard envy? Filed under: Linux — 0ddn1x @ 2008-07-25 19:14:31 +0000 http://maketecheasier.com/turn-your-ubuntu-hardy-to-mac-osx-leopard/2008/07/23/ [...]
You forgot Gnome Do for the Quicksilver stuff. Very Nice Tutorial.
Thanks.
There needs to be a section on how to make mac os look decent
@Tom:Go to ‘System->Preferences->Appearance’. Click Customize and go to the Icon tab. make sure that the mac4Lin icon theme is selected.
Wow! that’s aewsome, now I think that it would have been better… if I had gone for a normal PC than Macbook itself.
[...] Guia para convertir el aspecto de Ubuntu Hardy en MacOSX Leopardmaketecheasier.com/turn-your-ubuntu-hardy-to-mac-osx-leopard… por mrcomputer hace pocos segundos [...]
Is there any reason why you didn’t change all the fonts (like the Application font) to Lucida Grande?
[...] kinda style, after you’ve read the tutorial. The brief complete tutorial is located at this blog. Bookmark us
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someone asked “Why?” Well, I just did this to my 8 year old daughter’s old Toshiba laptop and she is stoked! She stopped using it after windows crashed and burned and I put Ubuntu on it despite the Dell Ubuntu being a fav. Now that it looks like Mom’s Macbook Pro, her and her sisters fight over it. Bottom line: As Mark Shuttleworth understands; the UI is probably more important to the average user than what is under the hood. Viva la Revolucion! Good job; even I had no idea that it was this flexible.
[...] it’s at least worth the confused faces on your friends’ and co-workers’ faces. Turn Your Ubuntu Hardy to Mac OSX Leopard [Make Tech [...]
[...] Turn Your Ubuntu Hardy to Mac OSX Leopard - Make Tech Easier [...]
[...] LifeHacker encontré un tutorial de Make Tech Easier para convertir tu Ubuntu Linux en un Clon de Mac Leopard en apariencia y hasta en algunas [...]
Awesome!!! this is the best i have seem on this topic !!!
This is very very gay. If you want Ubuntu, run Ubuntu and make it look like whatever you want. If you want a mac to use ostentatiously in your overpriced coffee shop over an almond latte breve, get a mac. It’s really simple.
Also, you really think mac people are capable of following all these directions?
URGENT!!!
I’m having trouble with installing the “Mac4Lin icon theme”. I’ve downloaded the files several times and extracted the files several times but the files needed are no where in sight. Please help!
How do you get Ubuntu back to normal??
[...] Great tutorial right here! You can’t really turn a Linux system to a Mac, but you definitely can make your Ubuntu Hardy look like a Mac OSX Leopard. Make Tech Easier [...]
Excellent guide, I’m spending loads more time in Ubuntu now thanks to you.
Unfortunately I have got a few things that don’t work. I cant get the file menu to appear, the widget screen also wont show itself and the fonts seem to just error when I try to install them.
Other than that, great work and thank you
When choosing the Global Menu Applette i can not see it. i restarted and i still cant see it. but when i open a terminal window i can see it. Can anyone help me out?
Emhlol!!! My Uncle is obsessed with macs and I’m gonna install Ubuntu soon. THIS IS AWESOME!!!
Why a Mac..
PLEASE, can you do a tutorial to emulate Windows 3.1, 95, XP, or Vista =)
This is great!
I am not able to get the file/edit/view menus to appear however. I just have the “File Manager” menu, which does have all of the applications, etc.
Has anyone else ran into this problem or know of a solution?
Thanks,
Josh
HELP! when I ran sudo apt-get install -f it removed everything from my computer?! what happened please help!
May I suggest from a feasibility standpoint to change the use of ‘/home/username/Mac_files’ in the tutorial to simply ‘~/Mac_files’
I rebooted and got an error message about the USB something or other.. wouldn’t boot for nothin’. Problem resolved 15 minutes later, I’m running full disk encryption and can’t use the OSX usplash, it has to be Ubuntu usplash or you can’t type your passphrase to access your data.
To restore to your original theme, here are the steps:
Change of desktop and icon themes
Go to System->Preferences->Appearance->Customize
Change of usplash screen
Go to System->Administration->Startup manager. Change the usplash screen to ubuntu-theme
Change of login screen
Go to System->Administration->Login Window and select Local tab.
Remove AWN
In your terminal, type sudo apt-get autoremove avant-window-navigator-trunk awn-manager-trunk awn-extras-applets-trunk
Remove screenlets
In your terminal, type sudo apt-get autoremove screenlets
Restore the close window button to the right
Type gconf-editor in the terminal. Scroll down to App->Metacity->general. On the right, double click on the button_layout and change the content to ‘menu:minimize,maximize,close’
Restore back to the orignal menubar
Right-click on the top panel and remove the Global menu and the main menu icon. Right-click again and select “Add to panel”. Select Menubar.
That should be about all.
[...] it’s at least worth the confused faces on your friends’ and co-workers’ faces. Turn Your Ubuntu Hardy to Mac OSX Leopard [Make Tech [...]
I don’t get “clones”. If someone wants the Mac OS X look and feel, why not actually getting the real deal? Don’t get me wrong, I think Ubuntu has a nice default that is immediately recognizable as its “identity’, no need to try to make a half-assed copy. Look and feel is so much more than simple bitmapped themes, it has to do with foundation and behavior. You can make Windows look almost exactly like this, but it has neither Linux nor Mac foundations. But it shouldn’t, Windows should look like WIndows. Not as a half-baked Linux nor Mac. Themes always breaks something, the sutil pixels between margins, buttons, typeface kerning, it is too difficult to make it pixel perfect. 1 pixel wrong and the whole thing falls apart, so don’t try it. Make Ubuntu look nicer instead, if that’s the problem. This is a waste of time.
Well done, but only the windows, not the gui element like buttons look like os x. I guess the feeling is also nicht compareable.
[...] http://maketecheasier.com/turn-your-ubuntu-hardy-to-mac-osx-leopard/2008/07/23/ [...]
Thanks for a great tutorial, but I have two questions. My dock does not want to start when I login, even though the option is checked and my Global Menu doesn’t work right either. There is just a greyed out area. I have followed the troubleshooting help on this site, but still nothing.
Any help with this please?
Thanks
To noozeguy:
I ran into the same problem. My fix was just to apply the background image used to make the entire back the same color gray. If you can’t find the “.themes” folder, it is because it is invisible. Just press Ctrl+H to see it and find the file.
One other thing, the menubar at the top won’t appear like the mac in which it changes based on what program is being used at the moment. This is because every program has its own menubar in its window.
To CrownAmbassador:
My dock didn’t startup also, even though I checked the box for it to do so. What fixed it was I ran the dock (Accessories/Avant Window Manager) and now every time I log in, the dock appears. My only problem is that the programs I drag into the dock aren’t saved the next time I log in (same with the widget/screenlets).
Thanks for the reply to the top menu question.
I am also having trouble adding applications to the bottom bar… is there a quick/easy way to do that that I missed?
-Josh
Can anyone pls help me with the fonts.This is the error i get every time i try and do the copy to the fonts folder….
****@****:~$ cd /usr/share/fonts
****@****:/usr/share/fonts$ sudo tar xvzf /home/****/Mac_files/Mac4Lin_v0.4/Fonts/OSX_Fonts.tar.gz
tar: /home/****/Mac_files/Mac4Lin_v0.4/Fonts/OSX_Fonts.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
Dude this is really impressive, as I know how hard it is to make a Linux box look this much like a Mac. I do unfortunately have to agree with @AkitaOnRails, however, as I believe that if you so badly want to be something else, then why not be it? I understand fully that your personal intention was to showcase to what extent one can modify a Linux box, and congrats cos I think you did a damn good job!!!
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Pretty excellent job. Thanks!
Very cool indeed, now if I could only get those photo editing programs the Mac has…
wow this is very impressive. it looks like you put a lot of time into this.
HOla, no consigo poner el GLOBAL MENU APPLET
por favor alguien que me ayude
[...] Turn Your Ubuntu Hardy to Mac OSX Leopard - Make Tech Easier [...]
If you want a Mac then buy a Mac… otherwise leave your Ubuntu desktop alone.
How cool
great tutorial, but i got into problem when i enter this section.
sudo apt-get install avant-window-navigator-trunk awn-manager-trunk awn-extras-applets-trunk
it says:
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
avant-window-navigator-trunk: Depends: libawn0-trunk (>= 0.3.0) but it is not going to be installed
awn-extras-applets-trunk: Depends: libawn0-trunk (>= 0.3.0) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libpango1.0-0 (>= 1.20.5) but 1.20.1-1 is to be installed
awn-manager-trunk: Depends: python-awn-trunk but it is not going to be installed
Depends: python-central (>= 0.6.7) but 0.6.5ubuntu1 is to be installed
E: Broken packages
any idea what’s wrong with this. FYI i’m a nubie in Linux