Turn Your Ubuntu Intrepid Into Mac OSX Leopard
This is an updated version of my previous post Turn Ubuntu Hardy into Mac OSX.
That post was written six months ago and many things have changed during this period of time: release of Ubuntu Intrepid, newer Mac4Lin theme, better globalmenu applet etc. As such, I have decided to rewrite this tutorial for the Intrepid platform.
Disclaimer: This tutorial was based on Ubuntu Intrepid and Mac4Lin RC1 themes. I don’t guarantee that it will work on other distro or other version of Ubuntu.
Download the Mac4Lin themes and extract it to your Home folder. You should see a Mac4Lin_v1.0_RC1 folder that contains all the configuration files in your Home directory.
Preparing the installation path
Next, in your Home directory, press Ctrl + H to reveal all the hidden files. Check if any of the three folders .themes, .fonts, .emerald exist. If not, create three folders and name them .themes, .fonts, .emerald. Create another folder within .emerald folder and name it themes.
Installing the Mac4Lin themes
Open a terminal, type in:
cd Mac4Lin_v1.0_RC1
sh Mac4Lin_Install_v1.0_RC.sh
This will install the Gnome themes (window border and icons), change the wallpaper and the panel background.
During the installation process, the installer will ask you for root access in order to install certain components (refer to the image below). Type y to continue.
After the installation, your desktop should look something like this:
Installing the AWN dock
(The AWN dock may/may not work in all machine. If you find that it does not work after following the instructions below, you may want to try out Cairo dock that is less demanding on the machine.)
The AWN dock requires a compositing manager to work. If your system supports Compiz, it will be able to run AWN as well. if not, we have to install the X compositing manager.
Go to System -> Preferences -> Appearance, click on the Visual Effects tab. Click on the Extra radio button. If you see the following image, then your computer does not support Compiz. (If you don’t see the image below, proceed directly to install AWN.)
You have to install the alternative X composition manager
sudo apt-get install xcompmgr
Add it to your auto-start list. Go to System -> Preferences -> Session. Add the following:
Install AWN
The AWN dock is already included in the Intrepid repository, so you can easily install it by clicking this link. Alternatively, you can also type the following command in the terminal:
sudo apt-get install avant-window-navigator
Once the installation is done, go to Preferences -> AWN Manager. On the left pane, click on the Themes. On the right, click Add. Navigate to the Mac4Lin_v1.0_RC1 folder. Open up the AWN folder and select Mac4Lin_AWN_v1.0_RC.tar.gz. Click Open. The AWN theme should be installed now. Check the radio button beside the theme and click Apply. Click Close.
Before we launch the AWN, we need to remove the bottom panel so that there won’t be an overlap. At the bottom panel, right-click the mouse and select Delete This Panel. Activate AWN by going to Applications -> Accessories -> Avant Window Navigator. You should see the AWN loading up in the bottom of the screen. To add applications to the dock, click on the Applications at the top panel and navigate to the particular application you want to add. Drag the application icon to the dock. That’s it. You should see something like the image below:
To start AWN everytime you log in, go to System -> Preferences -> Sessions. Click Add. Fill up the following:
Click Add, follow by Close. AWN will now automatically load when you login to your computer.
Installing OSX font
Go to System -> Preferences -> Appearance. Click on the Fonts tab Change the following field to the same as the image below:
Make sure the Subpixel smoothing (LCDs) button is checked. Click Close.
Installing Global menu
There is a repository for Ubuntu Intrepid that you can add to the sources.list, but it is not the updated version (0.6) and it is buggy. Instead, we will download the latest version (0.7.1) from the code homepage. In the future when the repository is updated to the newer and more stable version, I will update this post again.
For 32-bit machine
Download gnome-globalmenu-0.7.1-1.fc10.i386.rpm to your Home folder from the Globalmenu Google code site.
Note that the file is of rpm format. We need to use alien to convert it to deb format.
In the terminal, type:
sudo apt-get install alien
sudo alien --scripts gnome-globalmenu-0.7.1-1.fc10.i386.rpm
This will create a gnome-globalmenu-0.7.1-1.fc10.i386.deb file in your Home folder. Double-click on the deb file to activate the installer. Click Install Package to install Globalmenu.
For 64-bit machine
Open your text-editor (Applications -> Accessories -> Text Editor).
Copy and paste the following:
# Uncomment to load the GTK module
export GTK_MODULES=globalmenu-gnome
# Uncomment to tell the GTK module to open a Gtk
# TreeView for all menus in the application you start.
# export GNOMENU_FUN=1
# Uncomment to disable global menu.
# export GNOMENU_DISABLED=1
# Uncomment to print a lot of debugging messages
# export GNOMENU_VERBOSE=1
# Uncomment to save the debugging messages to the given file.
# export GNOMENU_LOG_FILE=/tmp/gnomenu.log
# uncomment to disable the plugin for specific programs.
# export GTK_MENUBAR_NO_MAC="fast-user-switch-applet"
Save the file as .gnomerc in the Home folder.
In your terminal,
gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
Add the following line to the end of the file. Save and close.
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/globalmenu-team/ubuntu intrepid main
Back in your terminal,
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gnome2-globalmenu
Now, on the top panel, remove all the icons and menu from the left side of the panel. Right-click on the icon and select “Remove from panel”.
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 left of the top panel, right click and select ‘Add to panel‘. Scroll down the list and add Main Menu and Global Menu Panel Applet.
The Globalmenu might not appear or work well after you have added it. Logout and login again and you should see the globalmenu working perfectly on the top panel.
Right click on the globalmenu and select Preferences. Check “Enable Global Menu” and unchecked “Icon”.
The globalmenu is compatible with most of the GTK application. However, some programs, such as Firefox will not work with it.
Creating Dashboard effect
We will use a combination of screenlets and Compiz widget plugin to achieve the dashboard effect.
If you have not installed Screenlets, click here to install.
If you have not installed Compiz Configuration Settings Manager, click here to install.
Alternatively, you can also type the following command in terminal to install:
sudo apt-get install screenlets compizconfig-settings-manager
Go to System->Preferences->CompizConfig Settings Manager. On the Left, click on Desktop. On the right, put a check beside ‘Widget layer’
Go to Applications –>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.
Fixing up some small detail
Until now, your desktop should be very close to a Mac desktop, but there are still some small details such as the Gnome icon at the top panel, mouse cursor etc. Let’s fix them up now.
Replace the apple logo
1. Download the apple icon (Right-click and select “save link as”).
2. Go to Places –> Home Folder. Press Ctrl + H to reveal the hidden files.
3. Navigate to /.icons/Mac4Lin_Icons_v1.0_RC/scalable/places. Scroll down to find the images distributor-logo.png, gnome-main-menu.png, main-menu.png and start-here.png. Note that all of them are the same image. Rename them to distributor-logo.png.old, gnome-main-menu.png.old, main-menu.png.old and start-here.png.old respectively.
4. Now, with the apple icon that you have downloaded, make four copies and rename them to distributor-logo.png, gnome-main-menu.png, main-menu.png and start-here.png. Copy and paste all of them to the folder.
5. Logout and login again. The logo at the top panel should change to the apple icon now.
Changing mouse cursor
Go to System –> Preferences –> Appearance. Select Customize. Click on the Pointer tab. Select Mac4Lin_Cursors_v1.0_RC. Click Close.
Configuring usplash screen
Until now, you have done up the interior, it’s time to fix the exterior: usplash screen and grub screen.
Install startupmanager by clicking here or type the following command in the terminal:
sudo apt-get install startupmanager
Go to System -> Administration -> Startup-Manager. Click on the Appearance tab.
Press the Manage bootloader themes button. This will pop up a window allowing you to select the background image for the GRUB.
Click on the Add button and navigate to File System –> Home –> Username –> Mac4Lin_v1.0_RC1 –> GRUB. You should see three files. Refer to the below screenshots on how each file looks like. Pick the one that you like best.
Back to the main window, select the image from the drop down bar. Remember to check the box “Use background image for bootloader menu”.
There is a bug in Ubuntu Intrepid that prevent the user from changing the usplash screen. We have to do a workaround using splashy. Here’s the hack for it:
Remove the default usplash
sudo apt-get autoremove usplash
Download these two files to your desktop:
libsplashy1_0.3.10-1_i386.deb
splashy_0.3.10-1_i386.deb
Double-click the downloaded files to install.
Download the osx-splash splashy theme file to your Home folder.
In your terminal,
sudo splashy_config –i ~/osx-splash.tar.gz
sudo mv /etc/splashy/config.xml /etc/splashy/config.xml.old
sudo cp /etc/splashy/themes/osx-splash/config.xml /etc/splashy/config.xml
Now, we need to edit the GRUB file
gksu gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
Scroll down till you find the kernel entry. Append the term vga=792 to the end of the kernel line (see screenshot below). Save and close.
That’s it.
Complete Screenshots
Grub screen
Login screen
Intrepid Mac OSX desktop
Intrepid Mac OSX desktop with dashboard effect
Uninstallation
If you want to change the theme back to the original setting, here is what you need to do:
1. Remove the globalmenu from the top panel
2. Remove all the installed files:
sudo apt-get autoremove splashy libsplashy1 gnome-globalmenu
3. Restore the usplash theme and remove the vga=792 from the GRUB file.
sudo apt-get install usplash
4. Uninstall the Mac4Lin themes
cd Mac4Lin_v1.0_RC
sh Mac4Lin_Uninstall_v1.0_RC.sh
Enjoy!
References: Ubuntu Forum, Splashy, Bauer-Power
Tags: Intrepid, Mac, mac transformation, Ubuntu
(5 votes, average: 3.80 out of 5)
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[Click to close]311 Responses
On the other hand, the applets for AWN are really nice – but, please, do away with that annoying bounce, and make AWN do what people like in the OSx system!
Would this work with Kubuntu 8.04? My lappy is too weak to run Ubuntu.
Thanks!
to install splash, i had to use this command:
dpkg –force-overwrite -i /var/cache/apt/archives/splashy_0.3.13-3ubuntu1_i386.deb
known bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/splashy/+bug/328089
to install splashy, i had to execute this command:
dpkg –force-overwrite -i /var/cache/apt/archives/splashy_0.3.13-3ubuntu1_i386.deb
known issue: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/splashy/+bug/328089
to install splashy, i had to execute this command:
dpkg –force-overwrite -i /var/cache/apt/archives/splashy_0.3.13-3ubuntu1_i386.deb
known issue: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/splashy/+bug/328089
tested this tutorial on ubuntu 9.04
I have problems installing splashy as well and your command does not work for me.
imho, it renders much better with Cairo-Dock2.
works with jaunty :) then again so did the hardy one
I used this tutorial on latest 9.04 Jaunty Ubuntu and spashy works, so I downloaded the .so theme from here instead of removing the splashy.
http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=75309
On jaunty all the splash instructions in the tutorial do not work.
Hi!
I have a problem on Ubuntu 8.10.
After i copy the deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/globalmenu-team/ubuntu intrepid main line in the sources.list, and i type sudo apt-get update in the terminal, it writes the following lines:
W: GPG failure: http://ppa.launchpad.net intrepid Release: the following signatures are not correct because the public key cant be reached: NO_PUBKEY 7889D725DA6DEEAA
sorry for the translation, i translated it from hungarian language.
and if i type in sudo apt-get install gnome2-globalmenu, then it says:
E: cant find the following package
what can i do in this case?
thank you!
The GPG error is just because you have not installed the GPG key for the repository..
The reason it does not work is because they haven’t made a working package for Ubuntu 8.10 yet.. So you will have to wait until it has been made..
Aye. I noticed in the second picture, where Applications, Places, and System should be, it says what a real Mac should say. I didn’t catch that in the guide? Is that only for a Mac, or did I just miss it? I look through the guide again, and didn’t see it. Help would be great. Thanks.
Global-menu will make that happen ;-)
So it is in the tutorial ..
Initially the dock bar using awn came … but when i restarted the system there is no dock-bar.. everything else is fine…
can someone sort it out..
I was just looking for just one Mac OS X feature I wanted on my ubuntu, the “Exposé for all windows”, default to F9 key: http://guides.macrumors.com/Expos%C3%A9
This seems like a very nice guide, too bad it ain’t automated or else I’d try it. Anyway, I found it out by myself and so I just wanted to say you forgot to mention “Scale windows” on Compiz, that does exactly that: Expose on Ubuntu. ;)
Tried this with Debian. Mostly worked, but had trouble with gnome-globalmenu. It would only show the menu that either says “Desktop” or the title of the program, but not the rest of the menu. Also, while some programs were really beautiful, others (such as synaptic) had the old, blocky default GTK theme, which is absolutely ugly and Windows 95-like.
Any ideas? Thanks!
how do i uninstall avant dock?
@ andrew
Google is your friend. ^_^
probably with the command:
sudo apt-get remove avant-window-navigator
or sudo apt-get remove –purge avant-window-navigator (remove packages and config files too)
probably with the following command:
sudo apt-get remove avant-window-navigator
or
sudo apt-get remove –purge avant-window-navigator (too remove packages and config files too)
Works awesome with Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope. :)
Very Nice, i love it…really looks & feel like a MAC
After installing Xcompmgr and trying to start Avant-window-navigator I get this:
Warning:Screen isn’t composited. Please run compiz (-fusion) or another compositing manager. If I
ps ax | grep xcompmgr
the process is not running. Compiz is not running either.
When I then load xcompmgr the AWN appears briefly at bottom then disappears and the Screen isn’t composited message appears again (3 dialog boxes).
Grep still shows process as not running. How do I tell what compositer is running?
H
First of all thanks for the amazing theme !
But i have a small problem with my top menu. The bacground image for the top menu is not shown behind the “applications, places and system”. Their background colour is grey. How can i solve this problem.
Can.
Hi.
Will this work with Karmic Koala?
Cheers, Hal
First, I want to thank Damien for putting this together. I’ve tried the Hardy version and so appreciate this one :D.
Yes. These instructions will work with Karmic Koala. I just did it, and am now enjoying it. Everything works as it should, except I can’t get the apple boot up splash and login, as seen in the screen shots. I’m still getting the Karmic’s Ubuntu spot light and login screens, even I’ve read and followed the instructions for the last part a few times :D. During boot up, I can see the “splashy: Error connecting.”
Another thing I tried to avoid is following everything here to the dot, since it was for Intrepid. Where ever possible, I tried to use Karmic packages instead. For example, the gnome global menu, splashy, etc. You’ll have less conflicts with package dependencies, and they play nice with each other ;). Btw, the font Bitstream Vera Sans Roman is not available.
Hi
I have just seen that you have converted your ubuntu 9.10 into leopard. I am having problems with this. Which is the home folder that you placed the newly downloaded files into? Also did you have to change the name from hardy to karmic?
Best regards
Mike
Yes were able to do it. The thing with the usplash is that, its no longer being used by 9.10 , instead they use XSPLASH.
yes were able to do it, except for the USPLASH because 9.10 KARMIC KOALA uses usplash no more, instead it uses the newer XSPLASH
Hey the font is AVAILABLE Bitstream vera sans ROMAN
HEY GUYS , good news, this trick even works for UBUNTU 9.10 KARMIC KOALA, I got all the effects entailing the trick except for the usplash which is being shown when the system boots up, because 9.10 no longer uses usplash, but instead, xsplash. Even more, i still get to have my compiz animation and effects work without problem. SO ITS LIKE MAC OS LEOPARD plus compiz. THANKS and appreciation and praises goes to the author of this program.
-from the Philippines
for questions just email me,
meraldacedevera@gmail.com
than
Thamk yu somuch this stoped me from spending hours looking forsome thing to work on jaunty jackalope
Great effort. But why not just install Lin-X and have the look and feel of Leopard without the extra installation procedures? I have Lin-X and it works just fine. After all, it is based off Ubuntu 8.10.
Lin-X? Haven’t heard of it… so it’s basically an install with all this already in it then? Link (yeah I did Google)? Thanks!
Ok I googled, found http://linuxpoison.blogspot.com/2009/10/mac-os-x-like-ubuntu-lin-x.html
I wonder where the ISO is hosted on tho? (because I’m not certain of a blog updating the newest/stable ISO image for this).
AFAIK it isn’t completely stable, one blogger reporting they haven’t used it, yet another stating they did run into issues with install/sound not working. So, where’s the dev site?
Hola;tengo instalado ubuntu 9.10 en simultaneo con Win 7. No entiendo mucho de computacion pero queria comentarles que instale “Mac OSX Theme for Ubuntu”. No pude instalar todo completo por que debe de haber cosas que habre hecho o simplemente no estan instaladas. Pero el punto es que me ha ensenado mucho debido a la explicacion de cada cosa que tenia que hacer y/o cada lugar que tenia que ir para descargar alguna Aplicacion. Y queria agradecer que el interes que tienen para con los usuarios de Ubuntu, Linux, Kubuntu; de hacer que tengamos interes en estas cosas tan complejas como la informatica y de enseñarnos a usarlas como si lo supieramos hacer desde hace tiempo.
Saluda Att. Javier.
yeah, it works on my karmic koala! :D
thank you, think I’m gonna write in my language, of course, based on this article
*much better than in older ubuntu distro*
After I download and extract the Mac4Lin, and then go to the terminal it says there is no such directory as “Mac4Lin_v1.0_RC1″ so I did ls and what shows up is “Mac4Lin_Install_v1.0″. I can get the cd command to work with this, but I am stuck getting at “sh Mac4Lin_Install_v1.0_RC.sh” to work. Some help would be appreciated, I am new to Ubuntu. oh and I am running Ubuntu 9.10
Okay so I solved my own problem. sorry for the now random post.
Hi! what did you do to solve that ¨bash: cd: Mac4Lin_v1.0_RC1: No such file or directory¨ problem? I’m using Ubuntu 9.10 but I cant solve it!
Can you help me? Tanks a lot! =D
memejuaristi@hotmail.com
Hi! what did you do to solve that ¨bash: cd: Mac4Lin_v1.0_RC1: No such file or directory¨ problem? I’m using Ubuntu 9.10 but I cant solve it!
Can you help me? Tanks a lot! =D
memejuaristi@hotmail.com
Very Nice! worked with 9.04 just need to know how to rename Desktop to Finder on the top panel
I am using Ubuntu 9.10 and I downloaded the package and tried to show hidden files and nothing showed. Also, I am not getting the same folder you said I would when I downloaded. I am getting a “Mac4Lin_Install_v1.0.zip”. And that is it. I couldn’t even find the files you were talking about inside of that.
??????? ????, ???? ?????????. ????? ??????? ??????.
Has anyone got the login screen to work on Karmic Koala? I’d like to use it on Karmic but haven’t been able to make it work.
I am at “Configuring usplash screen” and have run the “sudo apt-get autoremove usplash” command, but now that I am trying to install the “libsplashy1_0.3.10-1_i386.deb” and “splashy_0.3.10-1_i386.deb” files, but I get the following errors, “Error: Dependency is not satisfiable: libdirectfb-1.0-0″ and “Error: Dependency is not satisfiable: libdirectfb-1.0-0 (>= 1.0.1-9)”
I am new to Linux and would really appreciate some help here.