Converting Ubuntu to Mac OSX
Personally, I like ubuntu as my linux distro of choice. It has the best usability, support, and package management of all the distros I have used. However, ubuntu defaults to an ugly orange/brown color and it still has a linux look to it, which isn’t necessarily bad but I like the gui of mac osx much better. I decided to merge the two and have ubuntu with a mac face, which is possible due to the configurability of gnome. This is a guide of what I did to change ubuntu to mac osx. I got the idea from Lauri Taimila’s website. Lauri guide, however, is outdated and a little incomplete, so I am writing my own guide which should be a bit fresher.
Everybody likes screenshots, so I’ll try to include lots of screenshots as I do this guide. So to start out, some shots of the finished version.
First things first. You need ubuntu. This guide was written using Ubuntu 7.04 but it also applies to older versions (6.06 and 6.10 I think). It is necessary to have Gnome installed. It is possible to install gnome after you have installed KDE, but I strongly discourage do so, as there are other things which get messed up, so I reccommend, in that case, reinstalling ubuntu with gnome.
This guide will configure the following aspects of gnome to look like OSX:
- Desktop wallpaper
- Window Controls (scrollbar, buttons, etc.)
- Mouse Cursor
- Icons
- Login Screen
- Splash Screen
- Windows Borders
- Main Menu Icon
- Panels
- Firefox
To start off, you will need some software installed. So open up synaptic ( System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager ). You will want to make sure you have the right repositories. Click: Setting > Repositories. If not already, check the option that says “Community-maintained Open Source Software (universe)”. Click Close and then Reload. You will need to install the following packages:
- gdesklets-data
- gnome-themes-extras
- gnome-splashscreen-manager
- beagle
Once those are installed, we are ready to begin. Next we need to download the right themes, icons, etc. from gnome design communities. There are four main packages you will need to download. Right click on the links and select “Save Link As…” to download them.
For this tutorial, I’ll assume everything is downloaded to your desktop. After you download everything, open up the mac-osx-bundle and extract the mac-osx-bundle folder to your desktop. You can now delete the 28686-mac-osx-bundle.tar.gz file.
To start installing your themes, select System > Preferences > Theme. Click on the “Install Theme…” button. Navigate to your desktop and select the “30859-T-ish_v3.2.tar.gz” file and click “Open”. Click on the “Install Theme…” button again. Navigate to your desktop and open the “mac-osx-bundle” folder and select the “mac-osx-controls.tar.gz” file and click “Open”.
Click on the “Customize…” button. Under the “Controls” tab, select “mac-osx-controls”. Under the “Window Border” tab, select “T-ish-Ubuntulooks”. Under the “Icons” tab, click the “Install…” button. Navigate to your desktop and select the “OSX3.3.tar.gz” file and click “Open”. Click on the “Apply New Theme” button. Click the “Close” button and the “Close” button again. You have now installed your themes.
To install the cursor theme, right click on the “install-cursor.sh” file on your desktop and click on “Properties”. Under the “Permissions” tab, check the “Allow executing file as program” box and click close. Double click on the “install-cursor.sh” file. Click on the “Run” button. You need to log off and back on in order to see your new cursor theme.
Right click on the “menu-bar-setup.sh” file on your desktop and click on “Properties”. Under the “Permissions” tab, check the “Allow executing file as program” box and click close. Double click on the “menu-bar-setup.sh” file. Click on the “Run in Terminal” button. Enter in your password when prompted for it.
To Be continued…
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