PomAROS
Available today

Pick your PomAROS.

All three run the same AROS, built from the same shared sources, on any Mac with Apple Silicon. They differ in how AROS meets macOS.

PomAROS Hosted desktop with its live monitor, in a macOS window
macOS app

PomAROS Hosted

AROS runs as a process of macOS. macOS keeps the drivers; AROS gets your files, the clipboard and CoreAudio through native bridges.

  • Best for everyday use next to your Mac apps
  • Needs macOS 12 or newer
  • Status preview
Download Source
PomAROS VM desktop with its live monitor, in its macOS window
Virtual machine

PomAROS VM

A complete AROS machine of its own, on Apple's built-in Virtualization framework. Files and clipboard cross over, and the guest shuts down cleanly with the window.

  • Best for a real, separate AROS machine
  • Needs nothing else, no QEMU
  • Status preview
Download Source
PomAROS QEMU desktop
QEMU

PomAROS QEMU

The same AROS guest under QEMU, with hardware acceleration, or full software emulation when you choose it.

  • Best for people who already use QEMU
  • Needs macOS 26 and QEMU 11 (brew install qemu)
  • Status preview, no file or clipboard bridge yet
Download Source
Which one?

Not sure? Start with the VM.

It is a single download, it needs nothing else, and it gives you a whole AROS machine you cannot break your Mac with.

Hosted is the closest to a Mac app: AROS opens your Mac files directly and plays through your Mac's speakers.

VM is a separate machine with its own disk, that still shares files and the clipboard with macOS.

QEMU is for people who want QEMU's tools and options. It shares the guest with the VM.

And if you would rather have AROS with no macOS underneath at all, native PomAROS is coming.

Open source

Built in the open.

Every port pins the exact revision of the shared AROS core it was built from, a fork that keeps the official AROS history. Each release ships its sources and the instructions to rebuild it.

These are previews, not finished releases: each repository lists what is measured and what is still missing. Bug reports and pull requests are welcome there, and general AROS improvements go upstream to the AROS project.