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Zorin OS

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Re: Zorin OS

#81

Post by qn9n »

penguin_booze wrote: post #78
afavour wrote: post #12

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 ask…

OOC, what were the frustrations about? I jumped ship as soon as Ubuntu started shipping with Unity. For me, as a moderate power-user, it's been pretty smooth sailing so far.

I think that's the issue, you're a moderate power user so feature discoverability is more natural to you. I guess the issues his family had were related to things not functioning how Windows or macOS does (although Mint is pretty Windows focused) hopefully Zorin is much more user-friendly to casual users.

Re: Zorin OS

#82

Post by qn9n »

zamalek wrote: post #44
tombert wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My cousin got my grandmother moved to Linux Mint with some actual success. All she did was check her email and browse the internet, and Linux can do that perfectly competently.

Same story here. Purchased a System76 machine for my ex-wife's grandmother. She "enjoyed learning about the new system". As a bonus she is now completely support scam immune, one of the advantages of the year of the Linux desktop not having happened yet.

Not going to lie, I feel a System76 machine is way overkill for someones grandmother who likely doesn't really need that kind of horsepower... Especially given the cheapest model they sell is 1400.

Re: Zorin OS

#83

Post by lproven »

mrheosuper wrote: post #75
replete wrote: post #11

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…

how would you compare it with PopOS

For most purposes, much better.

Pop OS has a whole new desktop metaphor. That doesn't bother a techie; it can totally throw non-technical folks.

Zorin coerces GNOME into a Windows-like design, but unlike too many distros, it looks good while doing it, and the paid version comes with a tonne of apps pre-installed and paid support.

Re: Zorin OS

#84

Post by qn9n »

pogue wrote: post #57
afavour wrote: post #12

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 ask…

I'm surprised to hear that about Linux Mint. I installed it on an ancient laptop for my octogenarian mother and she could get around in it just fine after I explained to her how to use their 'store' to install apps. The interface is quite intuitive, I felt.

My guess is if you are comfortable on Windows then Mint is perfect and works how you expect, if you come from macOS then perhaps Elementary would be better for you.

Zorin negates this worry entirely and allows you to install one OS for everyone and then just choose the Windows or Mac mode depending on the end-user.

Re: Zorin OS

#85

Post by replete »

mrheosuper wrote: post #75
replete wrote: post #11

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…

how would you compare it with PopOS

I have my eye on COSMIC Desktop, but ultimately decided Fedora was a better fit for me from a perspective of 'latest stuff with less hassle, mostly stable' as a technical person.

The real comparison is 'stable distribution for developer/techie type people' vs 'stable distribution that is easy to use for newbies'. Zorin is the latter, comparing the two doesn't quite make sense. If you are the former, you wouldn't pick ZorinOS.

Not to say you can't do anything on Zorin you couldn't on PopOS, but the point of Zorin is a well integrated operating system for non-technical people, which means packages won't always be latest because they want to ship a stable operating system for non-technical people.

If you had an older system and wanted to use it for basic web type activities, Zorin would probably be a better fit for that scenario

Re: Zorin OS

#86

Post by lproven »

nartho wrote: post #15
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 r…

> It seems like they are targeting a demographics with low tech literacy

True, and often overlooked in the world of Linux.

> but I don't know how productive those statements are really.

What it really means is that it comes with 20GB of so of preinstalled Flatpak apps for a whole bunch of use cases: graphic art, sound and music production, video and podcast editing, live streaming, etc.

Stuff you need domain-specific knowledge to find and install on Linux, and which on Windows costs real money and probably will get you a tonne of spyware, ad banners etc.

Nothing vastly demanding if you have the knowledge.

Rather than giving you an app store and leaving you to it to find it, learn it, navigate it, and find the apps you need and avoid anything dodgy, they take a whole catalogue of premium big-name FOSS apps and preload the lot.

It's big, and when I reviewed it, it filled my VM and then a real disk partition -- but in real life, you nuke Windows and dedicate a laptop to this, and then it's fine.

My most recent review:

https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/03/zorin_os_173/

My first:

https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/02/zorin_os_162/

Re: Zorin OS

#87

Post by qn9n »

pogue wrote: post #56

If you want to check out Zorin, or other popular Linux flavors, in your browser to see if you like them without having to install them on a VM/separate partition, try Distro Sea: https://distrosea.com/ There's also quite a few good reviews on Zorin on YouTube. People should also note Zorin sells a "pro" version for around $50. I'm sure most people could achieve the same features the pro edition has without much troub…

I get a `proxy detected` error whenever I try a vm on distrosea, I've tried disabling all content blockers and am not running a proxy of any kind.

Re: Zorin OS

#88

Post by qn9n »

frollogaston wrote: post #67
gxonatano wrote: post #58

I know there's a place for distros like these, designed to be familiar to users of Windows or MacOS, but to me it shows Linux at its laziest: where exciting new ideas in system and UI design are skipped over, in favor of bad design ideas from 1995 (looking at you, Start menu). On MacOS and Windows you're stuck with whatever OS UI those respective corporations decide you get—the Apple menu, the Start menu, floating wi…

As a longtime Mac user, I kinda wish it had a start menu. So much useful stuff easily accessible. But also, none of those choices affect my productivity all that much.

As a longtime Mac user, just use Command-Space.

Re: Zorin OS

#89

Post by qn9n »

gxonatano wrote: post #58

I know there's a place for distros like these, designed to be familiar to users of Windows or MacOS, but to me it shows Linux at its laziest: where exciting new ideas in system and UI design are skipped over, in favor of bad design ideas from 1995 (looking at you, Start menu). On MacOS and Windows you're stuck with whatever OS UI those respective corporations decide you get—the Apple menu, the Start menu, floating wi…

I agree that it's important for user-centrism to be a focal point of Linux, however I am also happy that distributions like this exist, yes you do lose some of the _magic_ of Linux by replicating a workflow a user is already used to, however this is perfect as non-technical people simply just don't care about that and just want to check their emails, social media, do some shopping, research stuff and watch some content online. They don't need to learn user-centric workflows like Vim to do such a thing.
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