Liquid Glass for Linux? PearOS makes another Mac move – how it looks now
Liquid Glass for Linux? PearOS makes another Mac move – how it looks now
https://www.zdnet.com/article/pearos-is-daring-to-go-the-liquid-glass-route-on-linux/
Publish Date: 2026-06-09 13:19:00
Source Domain: www.zdnet.com
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- PearOS is aiming for Apple’s Liquid Glass desktop.
- The distribution is far from ready for general usage.
- PearOS gives you an Apple Intelligence-like experience as well.
I’ve been keeping an eye on PearOS for some time. I covered PearOS before, calling it a Linux distro that makes your old laptop feel like a Mac.
Since that original review, the developers have decided to up the ante and bring about a Liquid Glass-like look for the distribution. And although PearOS still has its quirks — the development “team” consists of one person, which means progress is slow — the latest release has a new base, a new design, and a “new everything.”
Also: The best Linux laptops in 2025: Expert tested for students, hobbyists, and pros
The new release is still based on Arch Linux and KDE Plasma, and is still promising the new desktop environment, Soda, but that portion of the project is still listed as “currently unavailable.” This latest version is called NiceCore and has started adding what the developer is calling a “Liquid Gel” design.
You can see what the developer is doing with Liquid Gel on the official PearOS website. I figured the NiceCore version of PearOS would include some of the Liquid Gel bits. What I saw was pretty spiffy. I’m not 100% certain if NiceCore included the Soda/Liquid Gel desktop, but I do know that this version does include the new installer (more on that in a bit). I’m not convinced that what I’m seeing is Liquid Gel, but it’s still a gorgeous desktop.
The installation
This is where things are a bit dicey with PearOS. To be perfectly honest, I remember the installation of the previous iteration to be equally as dicey. However, this time around, it seemed the installation refused to complete, and I landed on the default test account (even though I created a user account). My guess is that this is because I attempted to install PearOS as a virtual machine.
Even…
