Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Zorin OS

zorin.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 208 posts

Re: Zorin OS

#11

Post by replete »

I reviewed ZorinOS last year when considering going all-in on Linux at home last year, testing around 30 distributions.

While it wasn't a good fit as a techie, I rated Zorin the best distro for 'general desktop computing' for "normal" people who have used Windows their whole life.

I was impressed by how integrated and easy to use the desktop environment was. Now, this is not a statement of Gnome vs KDE etc etc, it is of the experience of using it - e.g. simple settings for making the general OS feel like Windows or MacOS, lots of sensible things.

Re: Zorin OS

#12

Post by afavour »

I hope this succeeds where others have, well, not failed, but not had overwhelming success. Years ago I installed Linux Mint on a family member's computer but they got frustrated enough with it (and required my regular intervention enough) that we ended up switching away. Zorin boasting about you being able to play "an enormous library of your favorite games" or boasting about the vast software library feels like asking for trouble. It won't be long before users run into rough edges.

TBH in the current environment I still think the best OS for "revive an old computer for a not very tech savvy person" is ChromeOS. I've never tried the open source alternatives for that but I'd be much happier setting up a relative with a glorified browser as an OS than something that attempts to do everything.

Re: Zorin OS

#14

Post by kvdveer »

worthless-trash wrote: post #6
LorenDB wrote: post #2

Zorin is one of the best distros to recommend to noobs. - Ubuntu based, so it has full compatibility with every .deb package that you find online - Not actually Ubuntu, so it doesn't have that weird Canonical corporate push stuff (ads in terminal, etc.) - Has a .exe hook preinstalled that asks you if you want to install Wine to run Windows apps - Has a very Windows-like layout so it's instantly familiar (which is not…

I've not used ubuntu for some time, but - Ubuntu based, so it has full compatibility with every .deb package that you find online I don't think that .deb files are universally portable.

They are not universally portable, but if your running an Ubuntu derived system, most debs can be installed jus fine. Thats not because deb is so compatible,but because virtually everything assumes Ubuntu.

Re: Zorin OS

#15

Post by nartho »

roger_ wrote: post #5

“Bundled with alternatives to over $5,000 of professional software” That sounds spammy and misleading to me. I’m assuming they’re just including open source alternatives and assuming the same value as commercial offerings.

>Zorin OS is built on the same Open Source software that powers the New York Stock Exchange and computers on the International Space Station.

>Thanks to the advanced security features of Linux, Zorin OS is resistant to PC viruses and malware

The whole landing page is full of those statements. It seems like they are targeting a demographics with low tech literacy, but I don't know how productive those statements are really.

Re: Zorin OS

#17

Post by debo_ »

I've installed Zorin for several elderly folks who were bewildered by the Windows 11 upgrade, and they all seem to like it.

Re: Zorin OS

#19

Post by biggestfan »

LorenDB wrote: post #2

Zorin is one of the best distros to recommend to noobs. - Ubuntu based, so it has full compatibility with every .deb package that you find online - Not actually Ubuntu, so it doesn't have that weird Canonical corporate push stuff (ads in terminal, etc.) - Has a .exe hook preinstalled that asks you if you want to install Wine to run Windows apps - Has a very Windows-like layout so it's instantly familiar (which is not…

And in place upgrades! It was a massive problem for years with Zorin (and still exists with other "user friendly" distros like Elementary), requiring a full system reinstall every time a new version released.

That being said, I still think this is a bit of a strange option when there's several Ubuntu flavors with more Windows-esque desktops, plus Linux Mint which offers a lot of these benefits with a much larger userbase and therefore better support (though Zorin is more "modern" looking). Not a bad option but not one I'd think to recommend often.

Re: Zorin OS

#20

Post by debo_ »

koakuma-chan wrote: post #8
roger_ wrote: post #5

“Bundled with alternatives to over $5,000 of professional software” That sounds spammy and misleading to me. I’m assuming they’re just including open source alternatives and assuming the same value as commercial offerings.

I would rather they didn't bundle anything at all lol

The lite install doesn't bundle anything.
Post reply on HN