A young Romanian developer has released a new version of pearOS, a Linux distribution styled to resemble Apple's macOS. Built on Arch Linux and KDE Plasma 6.5.4, it features global menus and macOS-like elements. The project updates the original Pear Linux from 2011-2013.
The original Pear Linux, created by French developer David Tavares, was based on Ubuntu and GNOME, with heavy theming to mimic Apple's Mac OS X. It saw seven releases between 2011 and 2013 before disappearing after an unnamed company acquired it. Attempts to revive it, such as Pearl Linux and Clementine OS in 2014, did not succeed.
Now, Alexandru Balan has brought pearOS back on a new foundation: Arch Linux and the latest KDE Plasma 6.5.4, dubbed NiceC0re. Styled after macOS 26 "Tahoe," it includes a global menu bar with a pear menu replacing the apple menu. The single-column Settings app resembles the iOS-style settings in macOS 13 Ventura and later. However, many features, like Focus Mode, display a message: "Feature not available. This feature is currently not available. Please check back later for updates."
Other Apple-inspired elements include Pear Piri (in place of Siri) with Pear Intelligence, a desktop called "Pinder," pCloud integration, and "Wallet and Pear Pay." It retains KDE's standard System Settings alongside these. The file manager is GNOME Files, while accessories like the Kate text editor and Discover app store are from KDE. It ships with Flatpak support, the latest Firefox browser, and KWrite, but no office suite.
pearOS requires about 12 GB of disk space and 1.2 GB of RAM at idle. The custom installer supports Romanian, Czech, and English, but has quirks: no visible Next button initially (requiring Tab to reveal it), and it only allows selecting a whole drive, complicating dual-boots without separate physical drives. It uses X11 rather than Wayland, and user account creation happens post-installation, similar to Fedora.
The project has been in development for several years, as seen on its GitHub page and Internet Archive traces. Compatible with Arch's repositories and AUR, it offers a functional KDE experience with a fun macOS aesthetic.
