Make Ubuntu look like OS X

http://tanu.wordpress.com/2009/07/11/transform-ubuntu-into-os-x/

by tan1337 • 17 years ago

15 50 17 years ago

tanu.wordpress.com

naz• 17 years ago

I can tell how much attention went into the look & feel of OS X when the spacing on the status bar icons in those screenshots really irks me.

randallsquared• 17 years ago

Hm. I've been an OS X user since 2003, and I didn't really notice that (in the conversion) until you mentioned it.

zimbabwe8• 17 years ago

That and the gradients, the look of the graphite buttons, the folders, the log-out button where Spotlight ought to be (there's no launcher bar equivalent that could be themed to look like Spotlight?), the spacing on the dock, the theming on the dock, the glowy ball, the spacing of the scroll bar on the Finder, the unnecessary Finder chrome (for people who don't know, all side and bottom chrome on OS X Leopard is 1px unless otherwise specified, and I don't understand why some developers are stupid enough to re-add the chrome Apple did away with)...

It's not worth it to go on. It irritates me so much that people would make an attempt like this in the first place. Every small detail irks me.

jrockway5• 17 years ago

Do you ever actually use your computer, or do you just stare at the spacing between icons?

scott_s• 17 years ago

If a novice took over the layout of your favorite publication, offline or off, you'd probably notice.

Having a desktop environment where things "look right" is, to me, the same as working in a room that is clean and tidy.

access_denied4• 17 years ago

People who are educated in micro typography (The field of Graphic Design distinguised between macro and micro typography), see this difference instantly and everywhere. It's like reading: onec learned you automatically process whe you see letters.

gaius• 17 years ago

Funny how there are no articles about making OSX look like Ubuntu...

halo• 17 years ago

That's a moot point, because it's not possible to theme Mac OS X.

nudded• 17 years ago

that is incorrect: http://magnifiqueapp.com/ is an app that allows Mac OS X to be themed

bradgessler• 17 years ago

The nth "Make _______ (fill in the blank with any OS) look like OS X" web post. Its like putting a Mercedes Benz car body on a BMW chassis.

tvon• 17 years ago

You should maybe pick different manufacturers to clarify your point.

toki• 17 years ago

There is a tool in the repos that reproduces the macos global menu on the top of the screen. I never tested it, it seems to work only with gtk-apps i think.

http://code.google.com/p/gnome2-globalmenu/

mishmash• 17 years ago

Cool, I could never love an OS that didn't have a standard menu bar.

CrLf• 17 years ago

A polished turd doesn't look like OSX.

tan13375• 17 years ago

I can't stop laughing about people telling it doesn't look like osx. alright its not osx. it works for me, and im happy for it!

zimbabwe8• 17 years ago

What makes this different from any other theme? Why submit this one to Hacker News? Because attempts to dupe OS X have been around for a decade now; the existence of this one isn't newsworthy unless it's a nonshitty theme, but that's not the case.

windsurfer2• 17 years ago

I love that you can configure Ubuntu this much, but frankly, I would never want it to look like OS X.

trezor• 17 years ago

Repeat after me: A theme is not a OS.

If you want OS X, get OS X86 or just get a Mac. And I say that as a Windows-user.

eugenejen2• 17 years ago

At the same time, we judge things that we don't know by its look.

For people who don't know what difference between OS X and Unbuntu, the theme is the OS.

This happens everywhere. Racism is one of this bias. We tends to judge non-white as criminals in certain situations.

access_denied4• 17 years ago

I don't tend to judge non-white as criminals. I tend to judge white man in black suits wearing sunglasses and big moustaches as criminals.

zimbabwe8• 17 years ago

What is OS X86?

jrockway5• 17 years ago

OS X on arbitrary non-Apple x86 hardware.

st3fan3• 17 years ago

"Im a big fan of apple user interfaces though they lack a bit in functionality and obviously they are very expensive unless you have lot of money"

This reminds of a great JWZ quote: Linux is only free if your time has no value.

tan13375• 17 years ago

LOL.. come on, you are still in BSD age.. take a look at ubuntu and then say!

zimbabwe8• 17 years ago

I booted up Ubuntu just now. I support the JWZ quote. Ubuntu is the best Linux has ever been, but there's no competition in any way with OS X, and I'd probably choose Windows 7 over it if it didn't instantly support all my drivers.

This is attracting a lot of downvotes, but I'll restate what I said in more certain phrasing: If your operating system doesn't support my drivers without my having to do work, then you have failed to make your operating system easy to use. Say what you will about Windows, and I'll say a lot, it has never failed to give me audio/video, which Ubuntu has failed to give me every time I've used it.

yummyfajitas2• 17 years ago

I'd much rather make OS X more like Ubuntu.

I like my macbook, but a lot of software just doesn't run on it. I'd also like it if xmonad worked for all windows, not just X windows.

zimbabwe8• 17 years ago

Can't you run Gnome/KDE on OS X?

yummyfajitas2• 17 years ago

Probably, but how does that help? Those are desktop environments, what I want is a tiling window manager.

Flow• 17 years ago

It looks kinda ok, but all the keyboard shortcuts and cmd instead of ctrl would expose the fake immediately.

crocowhile• 17 years ago

What about the other way around? I have been using linux for years now but recently I bought a new macbookpro. I am amazed by the way OSX handles battery life and suspend/resume but everything else doesn't even compare to gnome/compiz; gnome is so much more customizable! Was anyone in a similar situation? What did you do? Shift to OSX?

garnet7• 17 years ago

One bit of discomfort OS X causes me is that it uses the "Command" (or clover) key instead of the usual Control (Ctrl) key. Switching between GNU/Linux and OS X is a pain keyboard-wise.

Also, I prefer the way Gnome handles switching between windows on a given virtual desktop (via Alt-Tab) -- without changing virtual desktops on you. It works right on Gnome. Why can't Apple at least provide an option to have their Cmd-Tab work correctly?

Another nice thing about Ubuntu is updating your software. OS X can update itself, but Ubuntu's `aptitude` lets you update everything you have installed.

As for me, I'm stuck on OS X at work for the time being and would prefer to be using an Ubuntu (with Gnome) setup.

Make Ubuntu look like OS X

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