OMG! 5! - Five tips, hacks and tweaks to get a Mac-like experience in Ubuntu

For all the 'ITSAMAC!!!OMG!!!1" sentiment flung in the direction of Ubuntu many don't think that it is 'Mac' enough.

We've already covered turning your 'buntu box into a Windows 7 clone but attention turns to Microsoft's Cupertino-based rival and their popular OS X operating system. Here are five ways to make Ubuntu truly looking, behaving and feeling like a Mac. 

I’m going to assume that you’ve already found a theme and icon set to your liking. There are literally hundreds out there.

1. One dock to rule them all

If you're wanting a Mac OS X style desktop you need to have a dock. This is undisputed, holier-than-thou fact-a-rama. 

There are many choices around but for something that feels, looks and, most importantly, behaves like OS X's native launcher 'Docky' is the best bet.

It can look like OS X Tiger, it can look like OS X Snow Leopard - it's up to you and with a fantastically implemented 'Stacks' feature on its way there's never been a better time to become a Docky Die-hard!

2. Genie effect

Now you have your dock you need to get your window minimizing mimicking spot on.

The iconic 'genie effect' OS X uses can be effectively re-created using Compiz, and whilst it does require moving a few settings around our previous guide it all a cinch.

3. App Menu (global menu style thing)

Next on the check-list is an OS X style menu for the top panel.

Ubuntu users will find that Ubuntu 10.10 UNE’s new 'Indicator AppMenu' is the perfect foil for your imitation Mac. Better yet - Lucid users are able to install it too!

• See our previous article on installing Ubuntu’s ‘appmenu’ in Lucid

4. Nautilus-Elementary

Stock file manager Nautilus is pretty cluttered. To get a paired down, user-friendly and sumptuous looking file manager you need to install the mighty Nautilus Elementary.

Nautilus-Elementary is often labelled a ‘finder clone’. There is one regard where I can concede they are similar: they are both easy to use.

Installing Nautilus-Elementary is pain-free. Lucid users see this post and Maverick users place your eyeballs here.

5. Applications

Now you’ve got the look you need the goods. Here is an unofficial quick-list of applications from OS X and their almost counterparts on Linux.

Quick Look = GloobusPreview

If you use Nautilus-Elementary than GloobusPreview is ‘baked in’ so to speak, allowing you to preview photos, videos, documents and music all with the hit of a space bar.Garageband = Jokosher

Jokosher is a simple, simply laid out audio editor perfect for recording your band or your weekly podcast.

iMovie = OpenShot

OpenShot is, as you’re tired of hearing us say, ‘the iMovie of Linux’. It has the features, the stability, the clean interface and the power. Check it out.

iPhoto = Shotwell

Shotwell makes photo management a breeze and whilst not nearly as gnarly as iPhoto (in many ways thankfully) it is more than capable of managing your digital memories.

Safari =  Midori

Why Midori and not Firefox or Chrome? Because you probably use the two latter anyway!

Midori is fast, nimble and comes with many great features such as built-in adblocking and speed-dial.

iTunes = Banshee

“Banshee??!” you hiss in my direction. Yes. Banshee. It now has an MP3 store (using Amazon), can play and manage videos, podcasts and - and - who needs ‘coverflow’ when you can go MeeGo?

Mail = Postler (coming soon)

Ahh, one for the patient now. Postler is the Elementary project’s new mail client and, just like Midori, will be streamlined, efficient and darn usable. Keep your eyes here kids and we’ll let you know the minute its available for download.

Dashboard = Screenlets (on a widget layer, no desktop mess kids)

Finally, to round up this, in hindsight extensive post, comes the obligatory ‘widgets’. Screenlets + Compiz allow you to use a ‘Widget layer’ callable via a hot key or hot corner - just like OS X!

Going even further.

You can, of course, go even further. Install Safari or iTunes via Wine (both *almost* work properly), skin Pidgin or Empathy with a slick iChat-esque adium theme, add in OS X system sounds, cursors & wallpaper.

You could even go the whole hog and use Portable Apps for OS X style application management!

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Before commenting on how pointless/turgid/wtf this guide may be, note that we cover a lot of differing subjects here on OMG! so not every article is going to be hit with 100% of readers.

 This guide is for people who wish/want/have an itch to do this so, if you’ve some comments related to the topic of this post that isn’t a diatribe on why OS X sucks then feel free to leave it below.

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Get the OS X 'Genie Effect' in Compiz easily

Compiz and Docky users wanting to add the slick OS X style ‘genie’ minimizing effect to their arsenal of bling should sit up straight and pay attention.

Whilst the default 'magic lamp' effect in Compiz is okay, it doesn't feel anywhere near as slick as its Macintosh counterpart. Previously users could achieve a similar the window-sucking effect by users getting down and dirty with a hex editor and hack around in various files.

Now, thanks to the work of a dude called Plácido, it is as easy as downloading a file, and, well, running it!

He stopped by the OMG! inbox with details of his nifty tool earlier, telling us: “I think it´s a bit difficult to make those changes with the hex editor and all that. So I created a simple little program in C language to make it really easy to make those changes and have the MacOS like effect when minimizing with compiz and the magic lamp effect.”

Download

You’ll find the full details in Spanish on his blog. You can view a hodge-podge Google translated version here.

If you’re still left scratching you’re head here’s a brief LD: -

• Download the link under the second image
• Right click on it and choose ‘properties > permissions’ and allow it to ‘execute’ as  programme by checking the relevant box
• Now open a terminal and enter: -
• sudo ./genie_compiz
• Open up CompizConfig Settings and proceed to edit the ‘MagicLamp’ effect values as per the screenshots on Placido’s blog. 
• Restart Compiz via the terminal using: -
• compiz --replace &

Thanks to Plácido

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OS X Burning tool ‘BURN’ coming to Linux

Popular OS X disc burning utility ‘Burn’ could find its way on to Linux - with a bit of help.

The developer of Burn is eager to port the application over to Linux, having already successfully got Burn up and running on both GNU Step & the GNU Step derived ‘Etoile’. (The Etoile LiveCD uses Ubuntu has a base with the Etoile Desktop Environment on top, fact fans).

To successfully build Burn for Linux he needs  to create a native GTK GUI - something he lacks knowledge in so if you’re a Burn fan and would love to see the simplistic styling's of the premier OS X burning app rocking up on Linux then do lend a hand if you can @ burn-osx.sourceforge.net/Pages/English/contact.html

Kudos to Steven F.

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Help Bring Ubuntu .ISO to USB Burning to OS X

I saw Ivanka Majic, Ubuntu’s design team leader, retweet the following plight by fellow design team member Michael Forrest earlier and decided to also post it here. Judging by the sheer amount of OS X shareware crap and iPhone app press releases that crowd up my inbox on a daily basis I’m figuring someone somewhere out there who reads this blog may be able to help.

Michael Forrest’s application is a simple burning utility for OS X that lets you convert an Ubuntu ISO to a bootable USB memory stick.

I’ve shamelessly copy-and-pasted the following from his blog post appeal so if you can help, or know a Cocoa whizz who can, then please consider forwarding the following information: -

How far I got...

• The UI is pretty concise
• A USB stick gets detected when plugged in
• The right signal is sent to the dd process and parses the progress for the progress bar

Major outstanding issues

• It's really SLOW. I'm not familiar with how the dd command line utility works -- people keep talking about 'eraseblocks' and suchlike and my eyes glaze over..
• It doesn't detect and inform the user when the write is complete
• It doesn't seem to create a bootable device
• I can't see how to automatically remount a device after I've unmounted it with diskutil
• I'm not amazingly confident that once I've detected the device a volume resides on I'm not then going to end up destroying all the data on the wrong drive

The project is on Launchpad here: https://code.launchpad.net/~michaelforrest/ubuntuusbcreator-osx/trunk

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OS X: Camino 1.6.6

A new version of the OS X only browser 'Camino' was released a little while ago. This version includes, amongst other things: -

• Better tab support for when you have lots of tabs open.
• Toolbar search editor
• A new sleek 'Find' toolbar
• Improved Apple Script support

It still packs in all the crowd pleasing favourites such as integrated ad-blocking, flash blocking nand session management and it's very clean interface. The new version does break support for UnifyCamino - a popular Camino extension that allows you to choose different icon themes and tweak the browsers appearance. This isn't a major loss as UnifyCamino wasn't a vital enhancement but more of a theme manager. Why Camino? Camino is a very lightweight and fast Gecko browser and supports both PPC and Intel processors. Firefox is generally quite slow-to-load application on a lot of Macs (it's also slow-to-load on Linux >_<) whereas even on my old PPC 1.2Ghz Camino is launched within a second. Camino, though lacking Firefox's extensions, gives an uncluttered, sleek and super fast browsing experience. It's also very rare that it crashes. To find out more about Camino or to download the latest version head on over to the Camino project at: http://caminobrowser.org/ Camino 2 I'll be taking the beta of Camino 2 out for a super test drive over the next few days and will be writing up my conclusions here.

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What Is The Best Netbook Operating System

Netbook's are funny little machines. Powerful enough to be awesome mobile devices but underpowered and not suited to support most ‘Operating Systems’ fully.

Windows Vista is an excellent example of an OS coupled with Netbook's but whose Hardware really isn’t up to the burden of trying to run it.

Linux ‘Lite’ OS’s were the first OS’s partnered with Netbook's. Most notably is the EeePC’s Xandros ‘Easy Mode’ interface. When the ‘Netbook boom’, err, exploded, a variety of other Linux Distro’s were rolled out in ‘easy mode’ styles such as the Acer Aspire One’s  Linpus Lite.

Windows XP was also a popular OS for Netbook’s mainly due to it’s less resource intensive appetite, but it too isn’t the best suited OS for Netbook's due to the sheer amount of bloat any windows distro comes with which is simply wasted on Netbook's.

What is the best OS for a Netbook?

I’ve tried quite a few out since I got my EEE almost a year ago so I'll share my tips and views.

First thing to be aware of is that my Netbook has a Intel Celeron 900mhz Processor (comparative in speed to the 1.6Ghz Atom, however), 2GB RAM and a 4GB SSD. Anyone with a more recent Netbook will likely have less RAM but more HD space and a bigger screen.

 

Windows XP

Windows XP isn’t the worst decision for a Netbook. However people often choose Windows out of some belief akin to ‘I need XXX Application’ and then get disappointed when it runs XXXX application as fast a slug in a marathon.

 

A Netbook isn’t meant to be a laptop replacement so if you’re choosing XP purely because you want to run ‘Microsoft Office’, ‘Photoshop’ or other ‘windows only’ applications, ask yourself why you’re not spending a few hundred pounds/dollars more to get an actual laptop that can cope with running them.

Most applications people need on a Netbook are Office Software, IM & browser, media players and, err, that’s it really! These can all be found on Linux and actually run better on Linux because Linux is a more optimized Operating System and thus requires less resources to do the same tasks.

(My tutorial on tweaking XP for Netbook's)

That out of the way, is XP a good solution? It depends how Linux-Phobic you are and how “necessary”  Internet Explorer, MSN, Malware, Viruses… are to you. IN all, XP isn’t an ideal Netbook OS at all – it’s just too frivolous and loaded with features that you don’t need taking up precious resources. If you want to have a slower than slow Netbook just so you can show off you have XP go for it, but if you want a Netbook to be actually useful, I'd say try Linux.

You will likely have to install drivers to get your Netbook Windows friendly. This is no different than having to install packages in Linux, so don’t fear Linux because you have to install stuff. In fact a lot of Netbook Hardware is supported right away in Linux requiring no effort!

If you’re using a netbook for work or a Windows Only Application is essential then why not try it in Linux under WINE? A ton of windows programmes and applications run fine under Linux including Photoshop (but on a Netbook? Seriouz?), Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office etc. However there are Linux alternatives that do exactly the same job and many Windows app’s have Linux versions such as Skype, Google Earth, Picasa, Adobe Air, VLC, Firefox, Flock, Songbird.. need i go on!

Windows XP (Easy mode)

If you want a similar ‘xandros easy mode’ front end to Windows XP you can easily install this application.

 

Windows Vista

I wouldn’t recommend Vista for a Netbook at all. Certain manufacturers have other ideas, though! Vista will run on Netbooks, but you’ll take a performance hit. The best bet for anyone stuck with Vista on a netbook is to install Windows Vista ‘Origami’ Pack – an ingenious (and lush) ‘easy mode’ like interface for accessing music, media, and other apps.

 

Ubuntu (Full)

A dichotomy presents itself here. Whilst pretty much every other ‘Linux’ distro out there will work with your Netbook out of the box, requiring no effort, depending on which release of Ubuntu you choose (8.04, 8.10 etc) will affect the amount of ‘effort’ you’ll have to put in to get every piece of hardware working. The best bet is to skip the ‘Full’ Ubuntu and install a Netbook friendly version such as EeeBuntu (see below).

The main issues on most Netbook is getting WIFI working and this has been greatly improved in Intrepid Ibex, so much so that it should just work! I found that 8.10 (Ibex) on my Eee 701 was more effort than necessary. The wifi, Ethernet, screen resolution, function keys etc etc didn’t work “out of the box”. After resetting xorg.conf, having to manually transfer packages from my desktop to my Eee via a USB drive, it did work. Why it didn’t work out of the box I've no idea.

It’s worth installing the ‘EeePC’ package from the repo’s (if you’re using an Eee of course!) as this will give you over clocking functions, enable/disable the camera/wifi/fan/etc from within Ubuntu itself and a few other tweaks. Adjusting the Screen Res to 1024x800 certainly helps, too. A similar application called ‘Eee-Control’ for Linux can be downloaded here.

A Full install of Ubuntu is great if you want a mobile ‘desktop’ environment (including compiz etc which all work find on the Intel GMA950 chipset found in pretty much every Netbook). A better ‘Netbook’ solution is to install EeeBuntu (Works with most Netbook's, not just eee’s) which comes with the ‘Netbook Remix’ interface found in Dell’s Inspiron Mini’s.

 

Ubuntu Netbook Remix

Install the Netbook Remix version of Ubuntu on your Netbook and you’ll find pretty much everything works straight away! w0ot!

(Find out how to install the Netbook Remix on a normal Ubuntu install)

The 'Netbook Remix’ version of Ubuntu is specifically designed for Netbook's, mainly to cater for easy ‘on the move’ access to essential applications and to maximize productivity on smaller screens.

Xandros (Easy Mode Vs Full Desktop)

This is a tricky one. Xandros comes preinstalled on Linux Netbook's and can seem daunting at first. Especially as it boots up in less than 20 seconds!

The “Easy mode” does exactly what it needs to bar allowing you to install more applications or sex up the picker panels.

These can easily be over come with a few tricks, however and you can find my ‘Xandros TWEAK Tutorial’ here. (Will Be Posted Later)

In some respects the Ubuntu Netbook Remix is just a flashy implementation of a ‘Xandros-esque’ Easy mode.

Xandros, being debian based, can run pretty much every programme and application Ubuntu can including WINE. As such, after tweaking it above, you can run everything you need! OpenOffice, Songbird etc!

Expanding to a full desktop will give you the same functionality but allow you to utilize having a desktop. Wow.

 

OpenSolaris

For any nerds out there bored of Linuxes and windows, install OpenSolaris on a Netbook can be a great way to get to grips with Sun’s Open Source OS. Like Linux, it supports a lot of the hardware out of the box. Given Solaris’ niché market there aren’t quite as many “familiar” applications for it. That said, there are Solaris versions of Firefox, Pidgin, Rhythmbox, Songbird, Open Office etc so all the “essential” functionality is there right away!

 

A Solaris port of the Netbook remix shouldn’t be too far away either.

 

OS X

Some Netbook's – the MSi WIND/ADvent 4211/Medion Akoya Mini in particular – can run Mac OS X with a minimum of fuss! The most you’ll have to do to get full functionality is likely swap the Wifi card out for a Mac Compatible one – costing around $10.

OS X runs fine on supported Netbook's. Google is your friend if you’re interested in pursuing this, but for not the only “issues” with it so far (and some have work arounds that just involve installing a few tweaktastic apps) are: -

- Headphone port
- Mic port
- Internal mic
- Hibernation

Which isn’t too shabby!

 

So?!! Which One?!!

In all, the best netbook OS is the one that suits you. I find that Ubuntu Netbook Remix is the best for smaller screens (7”), a full “desktop Install” of a Linux for the 8.9” – 10” screens.

If you like getting the best performance then go with a Linux, but if you’re just a Linuxphobe then you only have one choice anyway so not quite sure why you’d be reading this!

I didn’t review other “Netbook” friendly distro’s such as eeedora (A fork of Fedora for Netbook’s) and other’s. It’s worth googling and reading some more in-depth reviews before you take the plunge.

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