Cutefish is back and brings Mac apps to Linux

CutefishOS returns as Cutefish, featuring a rebuilt Wayland-based desktop environment, Debian 13 nightly images, and experimental macOS app compatibility. This new version relies on its own window and graphics management system, providing visual effects and animations. The developers have made significant efforts to enable Mac applications to run on Cutefish, with their custom C++ toolkit and proprietary Reef compatibility layer.

The first major milestone was achieved, as Mac applications such as NetNewsWire, Ghostty, CotEditor, cake, and Ookla Speedtest were successfully tested and displayed to run normally in the new environment. This technology, called Reef, recreates the tools and commands required by Mac applications, without emulating the processor.

Reef's code consists of around 460,000 lines and over 80 different sections, but it remains experimental and is not open source, with no official release date announced by the creators. The new system also supports artificial intelligence assistants, with user permission allowing programs like Claude Code and Codex to interact with the desktop.

Cutefish 1.0 test versions are based on Debian 13, targeting computers with standard and ARM processors, and a software repository is available. However, the project has not reached a stable release, and the available versions are intended solely for testing.