Before buying a Mac and switching full-time to Apple’s platform, I had already deserted Windows for Linux. To this day, I’ve always got at least one Linux distro ready to go on my Mac in a virtual machine, both for work and to satisfy my curiosity. So, what happens if you try to use a VM as your primary work machine? I gave it a shot.
### My Linux VM Setup
I pay for a Parallels Desktop subscription so that I can run Windows on my Mac with all the bells and whistles. Naturally, I also use this for my Linux virtualization needs. While there are lots of free options I could have chosen, Parallels is a pleasure to use in general.
Ubuntu is sometimes derided for being a bloated Linux distro, but the flipside is that you get an operating system that’s ready to rock right out of the box. I have Firefox and the LibreOffice suite ready to go, along with convenient tools like Shotwell for light image editing and Transmission for torrenting, should I need them.
### Dude, Where’s My Ecosystem?
Not having access to the ecosystem I depend on within my VM is perhaps the biggest issue I encountered. This isn’t a problem specific to any single operating system, but it highlights how important it is to pair your desktop and mobile devices in a manner that promotes synergy.
I’m fully immersed in the Apple ecosystem at this point, which clearly limits my options when using non-Apple operating systems. Making a conscious decision to move chats to WhatsApp and Signal, store my media in Google Photos, and use a note-taking app like Obsidian would lessen this problem considerably. But for the last decade plus, I’ve mostly taken the path of least resistance.
Perhaps the most limiting issue is that Apple Passwords is entirely inaccessible on Linux. There’s no web app equivalent (which is probably good from a security perspective), and Apple only supports Windows outside of its own platforms. Were I not using a VM, this would be a dealbreaker — I’d have to move to Dashlane or a similar third-party solution.
Thankfully, Apple’s passable iCloud website provides access to most of the core services I need, with Notes, Reminders, Photos, and Drive being the main ones. It’s a drag having to depend on a browser for this stuff, but it’s not unworkable.
The only other feature I really missed was AirDrop, since I use it frequently to transfer screenshots between devices for work. Though I tried installing my favorite third-party alternative LocalSend, I couldn’t get my iPhone and Linux VM to see one another.
### Usability Woes I Couldn’t Solve
macOS is an operating system that, in my opinion, works better with a trackpad than a mouse. This is down to Apple’s handy gestures, which make tasks like switching desktops, organizing your workspace, and finding open windows a breeze.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t get anything like this working within Ubuntu. Despite fiddling with the VM’s configuration, I couldn’t find a way to pass gestures directly to the virtual machine.
I use multiple desktops to arrange browser instances, communication tools like Slack, project management software like Asana, productivity tools like Notes or Reminders, my email, and more — all pinned in place. Not having access to this sucked.
This was especially annoying considering there’s a Touchpad Gesture Customization extension for GNOME that adds two, three, and four finger gestures that I was eager to experiment with. Within Ubuntu, I couldn’t even use pinch-to-zoom. Instead, I had to rely on keyboard shortcuts to add some of this functionality back, but it’s not the same.
The other feature I missed was the ability to quickly log in and authenticate requests. On macOS, I can use my Apple Watch or built-in fingerprint reader to automatically unlock my Mac or manually approve admin-level changes. Typing my full login password every time reminded me just how tedious things used to be.
### The Missing Apps
One issue that many Linux switchers encounter is not being able to use their favorite apps. A lack of native Linux apps for many services is still a problem, and I’m not even just talking about Apple apps here.
Streaming Apple Music in my browser really wasn’t that much of an inconvenience. Unfortunately, not having access to Asana as a dedicated app slowed down my workflow considerably. The app isn’t anything special on Mac or Windows; it’s just not the sort of thing I want tethered to a browser.
Other apps, like image editor Affinity Photo and Markdown editor Ulysses, could be replaced with free alternatives — GIMP and Apostrophe, in this case. But my use of an ARM64 Ubuntu installation further complicated things. Some apps, like Slack, are available on Linux but only work on the AMD64 architecture. This is why I couldn’t get the ghostwriter Markdown editor working either, which was my first choice.
Time and time again, I ran into this roadblock. Switching operating systems of any kind always presents challenges, and given enough time you can find alternatives that work for you. These problems usually become dealbreakers only when you rely on something proprietary or can’t get the same level of professionalism out of a free alternative.
An example here would be an industry-standard video editing app like Adobe Premiere, where even a close free alternative like DaVinci Resolve depends on a third-party container like davincibox to run.
### Learning and Configuring
Ubuntu has more in common with macOS than it does Windows, so for me, switching between the two platforms never presented a huge issue. I even threw together an Ubuntu theme for macOS 26 for a laugh.
That said, there’s always an adjustment period. This can be as simple as looking for the close window button on the wrong side of a window, or accidentally triggering keyboard shortcuts you’re not used to.
I had to make sure to consciously hit Control + L to switch to the Firefox tab bar, as my usual Command + L shortcut would lock Ubuntu and put the VM to sleep. I could probably change this in Parallels settings, but I adopted the change organically eventually.
I made a few adjustments to Ubuntu’s keyboard shortcuts too. With no four-finger swipe gesture, I had to set up shortcuts for moving left and right between desktops. I also created an equivalent macOS Spotlight shortcut (Option + Spacebar) so I could quickly launch apps using only the keyboard.
### The Silver Lining
Despite these drawbacks and the obvious limitations of ditching such a user-friendly and commercially supported platform like macOS, running Ubuntu in a VM wasn’t terrible.
For example, I could simply copy and paste login credentials from Apple Passwords directly into Ubuntu. Believe it or not, this is something you can’t do if you’re running macOS in a VM, as I found out while test-running the public beta of macOS 26.
Since everything routes its way through my Mac with this setup, using my AirPods Pro while watching videos and listening to music just worked, since Ubuntu’s audio was routed to macOS, which takes care of everything.
In the end, I used my Ubuntu virtual machine to complete a number of work tasks like writing a review and this article, editing incoming articles, and workshopping ideas with writers. I relied on a browser far more than I wanted, and I had to admit defeat at times and switch back to macOS in order to access passwords and retrieve 2FA codes — but I did it.
My Ubuntu VM still isn’t going anywhere, but I won’t deny that macOS is where I belong.
https://www.howtogeek.com/i-tried-using-a-linux-vm-as-my-desktop-computer-heres-what-went-wrong/
