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New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS

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Re: New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS

#151
post #93

Wine works because Microsoft spends billions on backwards compatibility and APIs are stable over time. Apple regularly deprecates frameworks and adds new ones at rapid rates. It's a moving target with the added complication of moving build targets. If you implement your own version of Apple's XyzKit, that might only be used in macOS 12 to 14, and not before or after that, so you put in a lot of work to essentially su…

Wine works, because it doesn't cover many modern APIs, I would assess. New Microsoft under Satya has a different stance on anything WinRT related, or even newer Win32/COM APIs since Windows 8. Also .NET Framework is the Python 2 of .NET, the breaking changes are a reason there are still new projects being done in .NET Framework 4.8.x.

[deleted]

Re: New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS

#152

Can Linux replace macOS? What would be required to achieve this? I guess one thing macOS users like is the default UI. So this is probably an area where Linux lacks - both GNOME and KDE have shortcomings when compared to that UI. (They are mostly fine if one does not have that as a use case, though I find GNOME to really want to simplify everything to the point of having almost no features left.)

> both GNOME and KDE have shortcomings when compared to that UI

One persons shortcomings is another persons normal work flow. To me this is simply a matter of adjusting to a different environment.

I went form Windows 7 to Linux and the key part was that I always use open source software where possible such as FreeCAD, KiCAD, Libre Office, Firefox, Krita, Gimp, etc. This makes transitioning very painless. I also dont customize, no dotfiles, media managers, themes, prompts, shells, or reliance on OS features, etc. I keep it primitive.

Re: New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS

#153
post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious... did your employer agree to getting you a Lennucks Bocks 'cause you asked nice or were they frightened of running afoul of one of the many #a11y or security evaluation frameworks?

You keep mentioning that in this thread, but a11y on a Mac is considered the gold standard. Security on a Mac, the same (SIP, Keychain, Secure Enclave, great tools for fleet management) What specifically is in violation of "#a11y or security evaluation frameworks"?

#a11y in Mac used to be a gold standard. And FedPack in the 2000s made MacOS-X a good alternative to the confusing jumble tha was windows security. This is not the case in 2025.

Re: New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS

#154
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are objective criteria that macOS definitely fails at. Various government agencies here in the states can't use macs even if they wanted to due to lack of #a11y support or the ability to load their own root cert stores. I agree with you that for MOST people, MOST of the complaints boil down to "I just don't like the Mac UX," but there are organizations that cannot tolerate the risk of forcing employees to use e…

You can import new roots via Keychain, correct?

You can't install roots for all apps, notably the app store. Various government agencies occasionally like to install apps that are not web apps.

Re: New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS

#155
post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You keep mentioning that in this thread, but a11y on a Mac is considered the gold standard. Security on a Mac, the same (SIP, Keychain, Secure Enclave, great tools for fleet management) What specifically is in violation of "#a11y or security evaluation frameworks"?

#a11y in Mac used to be a gold standard. And FedPack in the 2000s made MacOS-X a good alternative to the confusing jumble tha was windows security. This is not the case in 2025.

Source: "trust me bro"

Re: New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS

#156
post #149
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the Visual Studio redistributable licensing requirements: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/license-terms/vs2026-ga-v... There's nothing about Windows licenses in there. There is a specious claim that I can't modify the DLL in some circumstances, but I doubt that's enforceable in any jurisdiction Microsoft could reach me, and to the careful reader the license almost admits as such. If I'm NVidia in this case,…

You are missing all the OS DLLs, COM and WinRT components, .NET libraries, that are covered by Windows EULA. Also the ones downloaded directly via Windows Update from Microsoft servers.

That's not how copyright law works in the slightest.

You can absolutely download a file from Microsoft's website and run that file on Wine and Microsoft cannot get a judge to hold you to any "license terms" elsewhere on that website. I am not your lawyer and this is not legal advice, you are just a moron if you think otherwise.

Furthermore, I also don't think Microsoft would claim otherwise! But you are still welcome to prove me wrong by providing just _one_ example on their website of a license that you think could force me to do anything at all, because of a DLL _you_ can give to me (aka "a redistributable")

Re: New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS

#157

This is so cool, the little mini screenshots look gorgeous because it replicates MacOS. I’m not sure if a lot of people feel the same but over the years I always thought it was a shame that Linux’ overall UX and aesthetics seemed a little bit more rushed and “crowd sourced” (in the sense that it felt diverse in terms of ui opinions and taste etc). It almost makes me want to try Linux again just for that look and feel…

Those mini screenshots do not look like anything like what's in the "Screenshots" section: https://imgur.com/a/svQaeCa

Wow that looks very different to what’s on the front page! Where did you find that and where can we see how it really looks then?

Re: New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS

#158
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't keep the record of every thing that I don't like about MacOS, but here's some: - cannot keep natural scrolling for trackpad whilst having the expected scrolling behaviour for the mouse - needs an external app for fractional display scaling - screenshot tool is objectively inferior to that in Plasma, eg. not clear how to annotate a screenshot or copy it to clipboard - Dolphin file browser is has cleaner and si…

> - screenshot tool is objectively inferior to that in Plasma, eg. not clear how to annotate a screenshot or copy it to clipboard I'm not sure what to make of this. When you take a screenshot (i.e. via cmd-shift-3 or cmd-shift-4), right there in the window that pops up are the annotation tools and a button to copy to clipboard?

You can also screenshot directly to the clipboard by adding control to the keyboard shortcut (e.g. control-shift-command-3).

Re: New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS

#159
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can import new roots via Keychain, correct?

You can't install roots for all apps, notably the app store. Various government agencies occasionally like to install apps that are not web apps.

I'm not sure I understand. What software do they expect to install via the App Store that can't be installed with the Apple's root certificates? Apple signs everything listed on the App Store, does it not?

Also, why would they need the App Store to distribute software signed by their own keys anyway?

Re: New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where are you seeing ads?

Maps, news, stocks are all installed by default and supported by ads. Opting out eliminates personalization. One needs to install an app like lulu to block background calls even with personalization turned off. This started with the twitter integration many years again and while social is no longer tightly integrated, the philosophy around user fingerprinting “while not being tied to your identity” is still very much…

There aren't any ads in Maps - at least, not yet.
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