Welcome to PureDarwin

Darwin is the open source operating system from Apple that forms the base for macOS. PureDarwin is a community project that fills in the gaps to make Darwin usable.

The PureDarwin project, which aims to make Apple's open-source Darwin OS more usable, is still actively maintained as of 2024. While development has been relatively slow, the project continues to progress through community contributions. PureDarwin focuses on creating a usable bootable system that is independent of macOS components, relying solely on Darwin and other open-source tools.

The project's main focus is providing useful documentation and making it easier for developers and open-source enthusiasts to engage with Darwin.

Learn More FAQs

Test Build

The PD-17.4 Test Build is a minimal system, unlike previous versions like PureDarwin Xmas with a graphical interface. It’s distributed as a virtual machine disk (VMDK) and runs via software like QEMU.

Due to the lack of proprietary macOS components, the community must develop alternatives, leaving elements like network drivers and hardware support incomplete. This build is intended for developers and open-source enthusiasts to explore Darwin development outside of macOS.

Based on Darwin 17, which corresponds to macOS High Sierra (10.13.x).

PD-17.4 Test Build

Documentation

Please see the PureDarwin Wiki, it would be very kind if anyone could contribute and fix the wiki as we have links and formatting there that are broken.

Documentation

Code

We have a GitHub org, and encourage visitors to use it for both contribution, and for checking out the latest build sources.

PureDarwin GitHub

News

Nov. 3, 2024
A New Direction

Jul. 1, 2018
Release: PD 17.4 Test Build

News

Community

Join in on the conversation, talk and watch development, ask questions, chip in, and so much more on our Discord server.

Discord Server

Status

PureDarwin is progressing steadily, with ongoing research behind the scenes. There's no GUI yet, and the system remains minimal, but key foundations are being built for future updates.

Status

Native SDK

An SDK that is native of an Apple release modified to target PureDarwin. We are working on a modified XNU kernel with additional BSD/POSIX features that don’t require us to rely on Apple’s closed sources.