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Which Linux distros strongly resemble macOS in look and feel?

13

Options
Considered

470

User
Recs.

Nov 10, 2023

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

The Best 1 of 10 OptionsWhy?

Which Linux distros strongly resemble macOS in look and feel	Price	Based On	Main Usage
92 Deepin	Free	Debian	Desktop, Showcase for the Deepin Desktop
79 Pear OS	free	-	-
75 elementary OS	-	Debian>Ubuntu	macOS-like Desktop, Showcase for the Pantheon Destop
-- ibuntu	0	-	-
-- Voyager Linux	0	Debian/Ubuntu	Live System, Desktop

Deepin

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Top Pro

Easy to use

It's very easy to use. You can easily uninstall an app by simply going to the menu, right-clicking on the program and selecting "Uninstall". See More

Top Con

Pretty laggy

DependableBozTengri's Experience

DeepIn is easy to use, beautiful, and has many apps that I can install. I am able to use CrossOver to install MS office in DeepIn, so I can totally forget Windows. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian

Main Usage:Desktop, Showcase for the Deepin Desktop

Package Manager:Debian Package Manager

Top Pro

Has a mac-like dock and some mac-like designs

Top Con

There are issues restarting (on a PC)

DebonairAntaeus's Experience

VMware Workstation is an inherent part in deepin store and run out of the box without any complications See More

Top Pro

Excellent apps

Having Deepin installed also means you have thousands of quality apps to choose from. The apps which come with the installation will suit your needs to browse the Internet, listen to music, watch videos, talk with friends, editing documents or simply any task you want to do at home or in your office. See More

Top Con

Deepin store apps not up to date

Shawn Lin's Experience

I can do what I was able to do on both Windows and Linux/Mac! A great effort the team made to let it be a very friendly desktop OS! See More

Top Pro

Well-designed in every detail, developers have a professional aproach to the system

Deepin has a sane default set of apps including custom apps of their own design that gives the distro a very consistent look and feel. By working with the community on these tools as well as custom translations there is a great sense of polish when using it that is not often seen when using such a new desktop environment. See More

Top Con

A little bit buggy at times

Honestly, it's probably no more buggy than Ubuntu, but it's definitely glitchier than macOS. See More

PreciseSengann's Experience

Top Pro

Great solutions for non-Linux based apps

Top Con

Team doesn't know what to do

Deepin has changed the base 4 times, and the name 3 times. The Desktop Environment also has been changed 4 times. See More

RationalMokhNaana's Experience

With Low configured Hardware, the performance is excellent, recommend to use Deepin if your machine hanging with Windows OS. Certainly suggest to go with this OS if you like to new feeling and performance which has greater view and fully support of installing additional software from its Apps Store. See More

Top Pro

Best for daily use

Top Con

Based in China

ModestShimegi's Experience

i just say great See More

Top Pro

Great design to the app store

The app store is gorgeous. See More

Top Con

Very slow installer

Because the servers are in China. See More

Top Pro

Based on Debian

It is based on Debian which is the best Linux distribution for desktops. See More

Top Con

Slow default repos

Download speed for packages from the default repos is abnormally slow. See More

Top Pro

Launches programs faster

Programs load and launch faster in Deepin than other Linux distributions. It takes only about 3 seconds to launch Chrome. See More

Top Pro

Enjoy the simplicity of Deepin's desktop

The desktop interface and apps feature an intuitive and elegant design. Moving around, sharing and searching etc. has become simply a joyful experience. See More

Top Pro

Very stable

Even though it is based on Debian unstable, it is still pretty stable and you will hardly ever get a dependency issue. See More

Top Pro

Easy to install

Installing Deepin OS is very easy. Even easier than installing Ubuntu! See More

Top Pro

Quite lightweight

Deepin 15.7 is lighter than Windows 10 and Ubuntu. See More

Top Pro

Rolling release

It's a rolling release. Meaning that it will get updated automatically. See More

Top Pro

Blur and transparent design

Deepin has a blur and transparent design throughout the OS, which makes it one of the most beautiful Linux distros. See More

Top Pro

Has their own tool kit

They have their own tool kit called "Deepin Tool Kit". And they themselves uses it. See More

Top Pro

Exciting applications

It has some exciting applications, such as Deepin Graphics Driver Manager which can easily change between free and proprietary drivers without any issue. See More

Top Pro

Supports Flatpak

Deepin OS supports Flatpak. It also has some Flatpak programs installed by default. See More

Top Pro

Can be made to look like Windows easily

By default, Deepin looks kinda like macOS but it can be made to look like Windows by right-clicking on the dock and changing the mode from "Fashion Mode" to "Efficient Mode". See More

Top Pro

VLC media player works without any issue

In some cases, VLC media player has some problems with Ubuntu or Ubuntu-based Linux distros. That isn't the case with Deepin. See More

Top Pro

Great support for graphics cards

Deepin OS includes a program called "Deepin Graphics Driver Manager" which can easily install a good driver for the graphics card. See More

Top Pro

Company behind it

The Wuhan Deepin Technology is behind this Linux distribution. See More

Top Pro

Includes both Windows and macOS style interface

Top Pro

Includes a lot of packages in the official repository

The official repository of deepin OS includes over 73,000 packages. See More

Top Pro

Not based on Ubuntu

Some people don't like Ubuntu nor its derivatives. See More

Top Pro

Automatically cleans package cache

Deepin automatically cleans package cache. Cleaning package cache is a good thing as it will make the OS much faster and lighter. See More

Top Pro

Gives warning messages when upgrading packages using apt

Deepin uses their own modified version of apt. When there is a distribution upgrade available and if we try to upgrade by running "sudo apt upgrade", then this modified version of apt gives this warning message, "DDE programs will work abnormally if run this command. Run sudo apt dist-upgrade or sudo apt full-upgrade instead.". See More

Top Pro

Seemless transition form Windows to Linux

Easy to install, comes with default packages to typical needs e.g. Chrome, WPS office, System Monitor and a bunch of multimedia utilities. Its easy to install and uninstall applications, it has a great app store and is fast. On same laptop run much faster than Windows 10 did. See More

Top Pro

PRO Network Managment

Deepin has the facilities to create VLAN and other configuration like Wifi Hostpot on their GUI. See More

Top Pro

Qt based desktop

Qt based desktops has a lot of features and opens up many possibilities. See More

9 Other Options Considered

Pear OS

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Top Pro

Beautiful

For anyone stuck between moving from MS to Apple a for people hat do not want the locked down nature of either, Pear OS gave you the freedom of Linux with the elegance of Apple. See More

Top Con

Different Icons

There is no 1/1 icons in the latest version of it, but its not a problem as modders can change it to apples icons. See More

SincereVanapagan's Experience

Was much better than elementary OS. See More

Top Pro

Similliar

It looks like Apples MacOS. See More

UnderstandingSors's Experience

Pear OS is now reborn and is currently available to download See More

PassionateBodbDerg's Experience

It was the best experience, Other dude took the authors creation and continued it! So i can still use it in 2021 See More

Carlo Mafezzoni's Experience

It was beautiful, the best. See More

Michael Agyeman's Experience

Loved the fun nature of the bitten pear and the ideology of 'everybody loves apples, but some prefer a pear'. Beautiful, sleek...but long dead. See More

elementary OS

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Top Pro

Lightweight & fast

Runs well on limited-resources hardware, including netbooks / chromebooks. See More

Top Con

Poor Linux community reputation

elementaryOS users are got after for not paying. See More

Buster Blue's Experience

Elementary seems to be made with the intent of emulating Mac OS. From what I've seen of it, I'd say it does a damn good job. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu

Main Usage:macOS-like Desktop, Showcase for the Pantheon Destop

Default Desktop Environment:Pantheon

Init-System:Systemd

Top Pro

UI design consistency

Excellent uniformity between all the stock application and an overall extremely clean design with simple animations. See More

Top Con

Old base and applications

The slow release schedule makes the applications outdated. It drags behind Ubuntu LTS (on which it's based) which itself drags behind Ubuntu which is often still quite far behind Arch for example. See More

Peter J. Mello's Experience

I'm no fan of the MacOS UI, but if I were, I'd be firmly in the elementaryOS camp. They are nearly equivalent in their ability to get deep under my skin even after only cursory use. ;) See More

Top Pro

Beautiful and user-friendly

This distribution promises you a very tailored user experience and it does deliver on that promise. The developers provide you with a custom desktop environment and a set of neat programs. And the whole desktop looks simply gorgeous. See More

Top Con

No official forums

For some reason the elementary devs do not want to have a forum for discussion making finding fixes for issues difficult to find as the only resource elementary uses is G+, which does not lend itself well to problem solving or large ongoing easily readable discussions. See More

PreciseManungal's Experience

it's very simple and powerful See More

Top Pro

The UI/UX is similar to MacOSX

Similar to macOS See More

Top Con

Customizing the look and feel of the UI is NOT easy

Every installation of elementaryOS looks exactly the same without using sketchy third-party software or messing with the Terminal. The only visuals you can change by default are the desktop wallpaper, the dock, and the system font size. See More

MaximusRex's Experience

I've used elementary OS for almost two years, and recently made this OS my everyday operating environment. See More

Top Pro

Built on Ubuntu

Built on Ubuntu LTS with all its qualities and support. See More

Top Con

Boring UI

It can be very boring. See More

PatientPyvsyansa's Experience

I love it. Gotta installed it on my potato pc and works like charm. See More

Top Pro

Extremely user-friendly

This distribution promises you a very tailored user experience and it does deliver on that promise. The developers provide you with a custom desktop environment and a set of neat programs. And the whole desktop looks simply gorgeous. See More

Top Con

No proprietary driver installer

Elementary OS removed the driver installer of Ubuntu. See More

SharpSilvanus's Experience

Works well, better on laptops than Ubuntu. See More

Top Pro

Simplicity, limited configurability

Sane defaults with less confusion for new users. See More

Top Con

Outdated or bad default applications

Top Pro

Consistent development practices

All elementary apps are written in Vala and hosted on Launchpad, and there are standard APIs such as contractor for applications to interact with one another. This is different from most distros, in which apps are written in a variety of languages. This design decision makes it easy to get started developing for elementary and to understand how the various pieces fit together. See More

Top Con

Emacs doesn't work

Emacs crashes due to a partial gnome library update. See More

Top Pro

If you like MacOSX, the UI/UX is similar

Top Con

Very slow development cycle

elementary does not offer any release date for their stable releases going more with a "it's done when it's done" attitude. Making depending on newer apps a difficulty as well as a poor choice for those that need consistent release schedules for their OS. See More

Top Pro

A dedicated StackExchange site

elementary OS has a dedicated StackExchange site where users can easily find answers to common questions. See More

Top Con

Buggy

Elementary is quite buggy compared to Ubuntu. Even though it is based on Ubuntu, it is buggier than Ubuntu. Of course, this distro is still in its toddler years, so occasional bugs are to be expected. See More

Top Pro

Customization is not a problem with new tweak tools

Now the OS is amazingly customizable. See More

Top Con

Not very configurable

Top Pro

Straight to the point

If I had to describe elementaryOS workflow, I'd use three words: Focus, Freedom, Clarity. With the UI that clean, thought-out and intuitive, with animations that seamless and with shortcuts that useful, the very thing separating you and the things you want to do is totally absent. The system just gets out of your way. See More

Top Con

Problems with basic functions

Problems often arise with functions like keyboard layout and touchpad. See More

Top Pro

Phenomenal multitasking

With the ability to create multiple workspaces, hop between active apps and windows using quick shortcuts and various touchpad gestures, combined with the overall clarity and consistency of the UI, elementary OS provides multitasking experience like no other Linux distro out there. See More

Top Con

PPA disabled by default

Even though Elementary OS is based on Ubuntu, PPA is disabled in Elementary OS. You need to do some configuration to enable it again. See More

Top Pro

With new tweak tools customisation is not a problem

Now the OS is amazingly customisable. See More

Top Con

Upper panel requires extra spaces

The upper panel in Elementary OS requires more space. This can be a problem for computers with small monitors. See More

Top Pro

If you like MacOSX the UI/UX is similar

Top Con

Window control button placement may be unintuitive at first

elementary OS system apps and apps built to suit Pantheon desktop environment have the closing-the-window button in the upper-left corner of the window, similar to macOS. It may be less intuitive to users coming from other operating systems; however, it prevents you from accidentally closing the window or app when you actually just want to resize it, and adds more mindfulness in your interactions with the system See More

Top Pro

Active Google+ community

There is a place where elementary users can ask their questions and usually get answers pretty quickly. Not only by the other users, but the devs are pretty active themselves, often engaging in the discussions on the hows, whys and plans of the OS. See More

Top Con

Doesn't support 32-bit hardware anymore

One can install Pantheon DE from new Ubuntu's repo, but Elementary OS is not making new ISO's nor is it supporting them. It makes new users confuzzled. See More

Top Con

No desktop icons (by default)

The system does not use desktop icons by default, nor is this option available in settings. However, you can still add desktop icons for your apps, files and folders by installing the app called "Desktop Folder". The app is available right in the elementary OS AppCenter: https://appcenter.elementary.io/com.github.spheras.desktopfolder/ See More

Top Con

Ubuntu based distro

Carry with all Ubuntu privacy problemd See More

ibuntu

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Top Pro

Ibuntu is a fantastic distro- it flies, it stays, and never frays

Voyager Linux

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Top Pro

Very customizable and lightweight

It is very customizable using the help of conky and Plank dock. Looks awesome while being fast and mean at the same time. See More

Eric Espino's Experience

The best distro I have used since I started to use Linux more than 10 years ago. I have been using it for three (3) months without regrets. Before Voyager, I was a distro hopper: (8+ distros in 12 months). The Ubuntu based distro is a little bit easier to use than the one based on Debian but I chose the Debian-based because I use Proxmox and UCS (both based on Debian-stable) as the standard distros for servers in the company where I work as IT Manager. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian/Ubuntu

Main Usage:Live System, Desktop

Default Desktop Environment:GNOME or Xfce

Init-System:Systemd

Zorin OS Ultimate

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Top Con

Limited desktop styles in Free Version

All free editions only offer Windows XP, 2000, and 7 and Gnome 2. You have to pay $9-10 in order to get Unity (Ubuntu) and Mac OS X themes. See More

Top Pro

Low resources consumption

TrustingAidos's Experience

Very easy to use, nice and flexible theme, light weight. Suitable for Windows user first time switching to linux, especially for an old computer See More

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu LTS

Main Usage:Windows-like Desktop

Default Desktop Environment:Gnome / Xfce

Init-System:Systemd

Top Con

Vulnerable to Windows' viruses by default

Zorin OS comes with wine pre-installed. As a result it can and will be vulnerable to some Windows' viruses. See More

Top Pro

Good Selection of pre-installed software

New users may be unaware of what software is available for Linux, but Zorin includes a good selection for everyday tasks out of the box. See More

TallEpiales's Experience

With very modest technical experience, managed to uninstall windows 7 and install Zorin core. Makes a 7 year old i5 dual core 4MB RAM dell that was verging on unusable under windows into a nice nippy usable machine. Looks like ill get another few years out of it. See More

Top Pro

Partial Windows compatibility

Zorin includes WINE and PlayOnLinux to run many Windows applications and games. See More

Top Pro

Accessibility features

Top Pro

Installer can set up dual boot

Top Pro

Stable

Top Pro

Ubuntu-based

Zorin is compatible with Ubuntu's sizable repositories of Free Software. See More

Top Pro

Windows desktop style

The desktop UI was made to resemble Windows 7, but alternative settings are available. See More

Top Pro

Bundles tools for changing the look and feel of the distribution

Zorin includes look changer and theme changer. See More

Kubuntu

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Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu

Main Usage:UBuntu with preinstalled KDE desktop

Default Desktop Environment:KDE

Init-System:Systemd

Pearl Linux

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Top Pro

Looks just like macOS

Pearl Linux is the best if you like macOS' look See More

Top Con

RIP

DashingPeitho's Experience

Would not boot on my intel mini-pc....secure boot disabled. Other distros no problem. Runs on the amd but toasted two usb drives making bootable usb for the mini-pc. See More

Top Con

Looks nice on one, completely dead for another

If it does not work on all pc's, cannot recommend wasting time on it. See More

Michael Agyeman's Experience

The successor to the now defunct Pear OS project. Sleek, even more Applesque in design than Elementary OS but Linux true and through under the hood. Lightweight and well thought through. See More

Anton Sinter's Experience

Is RIP See More

Ubuntu MATE

Top Pro

Highly configurable

Comes with an option to configure as Windows-like, Mac-like, Gnome-like, etc. in a single click. Wonderful to get you started without having to learn it all from scratch. See More

Top Con

Not bleeding edge

Users who want the latest and greatest software would be happier using Arch Linux, Antergos or another rolling release distro. However, because Ubuntu MATE is based on Ubuntu, users still have access to a large repository of recent software. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu

Main Usage:Ubuntu with preinstalled MATE desktop

Default Desktop Environment:MATE

Init-System:Systemd

Top Pro

Comes with many preset layouts that resemble GNOME 2, OS X, Unity, Windows and more.

This makes it a really good distribution for people who are looking for an experience similar to GNOME 2, OS X or Unity. See More

Top Con

Redundant

There is absolutely no reason to install it, since it uses the same package repositories as Ubuntu and you can transform any Ubuntu install into a Ubuntu MATE install. See More

Top Pro

Perfect for people who like Gnome 2

The goal of MATE is to maintain the look and feel of Gnome 2, while maintaining compatibility with Gnome 3. To that end, it has also forked and renamed many of Gnome's core applications. It benefits from the years of work and polish that have gone into the Gnome project. See More

Top Pro

Works great on old laptops

It does not have a lot of system requirements so it works pretty well even on older laptops. See More

Top Pro

Simplicity of Gnome with the power of Ubuntu

Debian was good to use but has limited documentation and is difficult to pick up. Ubuntu MATE brings the ease of design and logic of the Gnome 2 style desktop so it's easy to get around coupled with the vast documentation, forums and ease of learning/using the Ubuntu system. See More

Ubuntu

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Top Pro

Lots of support

As the most popular Linux distribution, there's a wide range of sources for support online if you ever need help, including the Ubuntu Wiki, Ubuntu Forums and the Ask Ubuntu Stack Exchange site. See More

Top Con

A tweaked Gnome version

Instead of original Gnome desktop with Ubuntu you get a tweaked Gnome and most of the tweaks make user experience worse. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Stable(core) Testing/Unstable(universe/multiverse)

Main Usage:Desktop

Default Desktop Environment:GNOME

Init-System:Systemd

Top Pro

A whole world of apps

Top Con

Includes adware

Advertisers pay to have their links or software preinstalled. Like the links to Amazon installed by default in the dock. See More

Top Pro

Available on a huge range of hardware

Top Con

Canonical (author) is proprietary

Canonical is focused on making money so you can see many proprietary offers by them and the OS has built-in trackers (Amazon). See More

Top Pro

Simplicity

Ubuntu is designed to be used by everyday people. Because of that, Ubuntu has tried hard to make a user interface that's intuitive and looks pleasant and clean. See More

Top Con

No rolling release

New Ubuntu versions are released two times a year, during this period almost all software receives only security updates and minor bug fixes. See More

Top Pro

Open source

Top Con

Redundant

With the removal of Unity, there is no point in choosing Ubuntu over Debian anymore because everything else is imported from Debian to Ubuntu. See More

Top Pro

Macbuntu theme

A Mac theme can be easily installed through: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:noobslab/macbuntu sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install macbuntu-os-icons-lts-v7 sudo apt-get install macbuntu-os-ithemes-lts-v7 See More

Top Con

Ubuntu does not feel like macOS

Both Ubuntu and macOS are good but they do not feel the same. Ubuntu is great to use but there is a vast difference between the two. See More

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