Golden Gate: Developer beta makes Linux partitions disappear +++ long-awaited functions for virtual machines | News

Mac users can also benefit from alternative Linux-based operating systems. This gives users access to additional software sources and can design a graphical user interface according to their own wishes – and if Apple one day does not provide updates for the first Apple Silicon generations, the hardware can be operated safely under Linux for many years to come. The Asahi project, which develops open-source drivers for Apple’s proprietary hardware, has particularly stood out. This now comes with a warning for Linux users: The first developer beta from Golden Gate prevents it from starting under Linux.

Fortunately, no data is lost; the Linux partition still remains on the Mac SSD. However, the boot selection menu of the macOS 27 recovery partition does not offer this. As a precaution, the Asahi developers have adapted their script to prevent installation under macOS 27 (Golden Gate). They believe this is a programming error on Apple’s part and have filed a bug report.

Second system as a rescue
If you have already updated your Mac to the developer beta, you can make do with a second system installation: As long as an APFS volume with macOS 26 is selected as the standard startup volume, its recovery partition will be used. An Asahi partition then appears as normal again.

VM in Golden Gate: important innovations
Virtual machines (VMs) offer a second option for operating alternative systems. They grant guest operating systems extensive access to hardware resources in an encapsulated environment – the user operates it in a window. Apple has integrated the necessary frameworks and developed them further over the years. In a WWDC session, Apple explains what’s new this year.

USB, user creation and more
In the future, the setup wizards for virtual machines will be allowed to preconfigure the guest macOS. The VM then, for example, already has a user account; Testers don’t have to go through the setup wizard every time. As of macOS 27, VMs are allowed to connect to peripherals connected via USB. A new framework called vmnet helps set up your own network topologies through which VMs interact with the host OS and other virtual machines. DiskImageKit helps manage space-saving disk images using layers. macOS 27 also supports the Virtio protocol. Apple itself does not provide a user interface for setting up and operating virtual machines; Until the new functions are available, projects such as Parallels, UTM, VirtualBuddy and Viable must first integrate them into their software.