I’ve written a few articles that included references to Zorin OS 18. I was referencing how it was a good alternative to Windows 10, which was end of life. Coincidentally, a client approached me to put Linux on her laptop. It was a new laptop and we were replacing Windows 11, not Windows 10. As a first time Linux users, I recommended Zorin OS for her.
That got me thinking, as a long time Linux user, I should give Zorin a go myself. It didn’t seem right to recommend it based on reports from other people.
Update
I've been using Zorin for a number of weeks now and am generally happy with it. I have a small niggle and a much bigger issue. The small nigggle is about screenshots. My favourite screenshot tool, Flameshot, wouldn't work. That was okay because I found an even better tool, Gradia. The problem with Gradia is that it quite often doesn't import the screenshot for editing. I have to manually open the screenshot.
The more worrisome issue is about sleep settings. When I come back to my PC after I've been away awhile, the PC crashes. I turned off "suspend" and I still get the same problem. Unless I can rectify this I'll definitely have to switch to another OS.
What's creeping in is an issue of opening the files from a browser. It's taking longer and longer to do this simple function.
A Little Bit About Zorin
Zorin is based on Ubuntu, the king of Linux distributions. Ubuntu is produced by Canonical, a company that monetises Linux, while keeping if free and open source. They were the first to produce a polished, user-friendly desktop based on Linux. While a great system on it’s own, many in the community decided it could be improved for their use. Hence there are many Linux distributions based on Ubuntu.
Linux Mint
This is another popular version of Linux to recommend to anyone moving over from Windows. I've used Mint extensively and there is nothing to dislike about this operating system.
Pop!_OS
This was the system I was running until recently. It excels at having the best Nvidia GPU support straight out of the box. It is developed by Framework, who sell Linux-based laptops.
Elementary OS
This is often touted as being a good jumping off point for Mac OS users. It's been a long while since I last tried elementary OS but I remember finding it intuitive, even as a new Linux user then.
Lubuntu
Lubuntu is an official flavour of Ubuntu. It shares a lot in common with Zorin out of the box. It's a lightweight Ubuntu alternative for those who want Ubuntu but with a desktop system for older PCs.
Software
The world of Linux can be confusing. We just discussed some of the systems that are based on Ubuntu, official and third party. One of the big differences is how you access software. Linux makes installing software incredibly easy, using a software centre that contains almost everything you’ll ever need. Within this, there are two main systems for installing software (even though they install in exactly the same way).
Snaps
Snaps were invented by Ubuntu and are a great system for installing software. There are so many advantages to Snaps it will be hard to list even a few in the space I have here. They're isolated, have all dependencies included, get automated updates, and are all vetted as safe for use. On the downside, they often fail to integrate with the system properly (due to being sandboxed). I've had issued getting Nextcloud, Filezilla and Flameshot talk to the system at large.
Flatpak — The future of apps on Linux
Flatpaks tend to be faster that Snaps. They can, for instance, share dependencies. (If two apps share the same dependencies they keep one copy, not two.) Some software is available in Flatpak but not in Snaps. To my mind, not having Flatpak is a major flaw in recommending Ubuntu to new users. Zorin supports Flatpak (as well as snaps) making this an easy distribution to access all your software.
When I installed Zorin OS on the laptop for my client, we installed all Flatpak software. The process was so easy. Windows take note, your software centre is junk.
Installing Zorin
Oh lordy, this is just too easy. Compared with Windows, the process is lightening fast. Even taking into account the fact that I had to replace the existing OS (compared with having Windows pre-installed) I could still shave several hours off the installation process.
You read that right, it’s hours faster. I recently set-up a new Windows 11 laptop and the first issue was the updates. They took hours. There were multiple restarts. Some restarts were so long I have to wonder if I should interrupt the process.
Then I had to install the software. I uses ninite.com for most software but then had to go to individual software vendors for the rest.
When setting up Zorin, I booted from a Zorin OS USB, installed, updated and then installed all software from their software centre. I clicked on the search, typed the name, and clicked install. Easy! This included:
- Teams
- Spotify
- Libre Office
- Firefox
- Chromium
- GIMP
- KDENLive
- Remmina
- Synology Drive
I had to install Nextcloud Talk via a download from Nextcloud.
My favourite screenshot tool, Flameshot, wouldn’t work. I installed Gradia instead. (It’s worth noting that both these software are available as Snaps and Flatpaks.)
The client’s laptop also required Proton Mail and Proton VPN apps. Both were in the Zorin software centre.
So far so good with Zorin OS
I’m happy with my workflows on Zorin, the speed of the system and the availability of software. Apart from that one issue with Flameshot not working, I’ve had no problems so far. The system was easy to install, is easy to use, and has been stable so far. I’ll report back in a couple of months when I’ve had an exhaustive experience with it.
