The Macintosh operating system has been always praised for it’s visually appealing and easy-to-use interface.  However, this has not been the case with some other operating systems, such as Windows Vista, which has been criticized for it’s hard to navigate interface. Most Linux distributions (namely Ubuntu) have had a good balance between ‘eye candy’ and functionality. But have you ever, as a Linux user, wanted to switch over to the a Mac look-alike interface? Well, in this tutorial, we’ll guide you through the process to Mac-ifying your Ubuntu PC!

What You’ll Need

• A computer with Ubuntu 7.10 or higher installed.
• An Internet Connection (duh!)
• The Mac Pack, a zip file created by yours truly. Contains all the files you’ll need for this process.
  Be sure to unzip this to your desktop or somewhere easily accessible!

Estimated Time

30 minutes to 1+ hour (Depending on how well you know your way around Ubuntu)

Lets Get Started!

• The Dock
  There are many open-source programs that can emulate the Mac OS X dock. However the one I recommend is Avant Window Navigator. Avant (AWN) is actually a project of Google! Once installed, just drag your programs onto the dock to add them!
  • To install, open up a Terminal and type in: sudo apt-get install awn-manager
• The MenuBar
  This is the bar found at the top of the screen, just like in Ubuntu. However the Mac version has a more glossy look.
  • To use it, right click your top Menubar and goto Properties > Background. Next, select the Background Image radio button, and in the Menubar folder of the Mac Pack find the Menubar background that corresponds with your screen resolution.
• Desktop Wallpaper
  The default Mac OS X wallpaper is included in the Mac Pack. Apply it to your desktop! (You should at least know how to do this without guidance.)

Now that the foundation of our Mac environment is done, time for the eye candy!

Applying the Themes

• System Theme
  To get the Mac System theme:
  1. Goto System > Preferences > Appearance
  2. Click the install button and in the Themes section of the Mac Pack, find and install 56577-gtk-osx-theme.tar.gz and MyTheme.tar.gz.
  3. Once that’s done, click on the default Human theme and click Customize.
  4. Select all the Mac options.
     Note: This can be done with Emerald themer too, which is included, but for now we will stick with this method.
• Login screen
  Make your login screen look Mac-like:
  1. Go to System > Administration > Login Window
  2. Click on the Local tab (at the top).
  3. From there, click the Add button, and browse for the Login Screen.tar.gz file in the Mac Pack.
  4. After that, select the Mac Login theme (from the list with the picture previews) and hit OK.
• Splash screen
  The splash screen is the screen that appears after you login to your computer. To get the splash screen:
  1. Goto Applications > Add or Remove
  2. Once the Window has loaded, select “All availible Applications” from the top menu. From there, type in ’splash’ and hit enter. Check the box corresponding the list item titled “Splash Screen”, then install it.
  3. After the program has been installed, open up the program from System > Preferences > Splash Screen.
  4. In the Splash Screen manager, click “Install” and locate the Mac Splash Screen file from the Mac Pack
  5. Hit ‘OK’ then click the ‘Activate’ button.

And you’re done! Congratulations on your new Mac look-alike desktop!

Optional Configuration

• Change the font to the Mac default
  Click here to find out how to install fonts (on Ubuntu).
• Applying Desktop Effects (Compiz Fusion)
  Goto System > Preferences > Appearance, select the ‘Desktop Effects’ tab and click Extra.

If you encounter any problem with this process, post them in the comments below… or better yet- ask your questions on the forums!

This entry was posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Technology.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.