Zorin?

tomscharbach

WetGeek Zorin 16.1 Core is installed on my "geezer support" computer, dual-booted with Windows 10. I also had it installed standalone on my now-defunct 11-3180 railroad laptop until a couple weeks ago when the laptop decided to roll over and die.

Zorin 16.1 is a very solid distro based on Ubuntu 20.04, deploying a heavily modified Gnome (Core) or XFCE (Lite) desktop. The Zorin brothers (the sole devs) ensure that it is well-maintained, and the support forum has a relatively large community. Zorin 16.1 Core, based on Gnome as it is, is not lightweight. Zorin 16.1 Lite (XFCE) is a lot lighter, but I don't like XFCE so I don't use it.

The 16.1 ISO was released a few weeks ago, so it is relatively current.

WetGeek When the VM got started, I was able to see just the background image (a mountain peak). No DE or even a start menu appeared. Is this for real? Or was my installation somehow compromised? The context menu from the background does provide access to settings (and it seems like the settings for a file browser). Is that all there is?

Your installation has to be compromised, either by bad VM settings or a defective download/installation. You might check the Zorin support forum. The support community is pretty good, based on my experience.

WetGeek

tomscharbach

Thanks. I downloaded the "core" .ISO, and it was approved by the installer after a check.

I think I'll try getting the "lite" version ... for my purpose, I can live with XFCE.

tomscharbach

WetGeek I downloaded the "core" .ISO, and it was approved by the installer after a check.

Zorin, like Ubuntu, does a checksum before installation. I gather than the Live version didn't work. Beats me, then. It must be related to your VM setup or a hardware issue of some sort. If all else fails, you can get a VB image from OSBoxes. If I remember right, VB is the VM client you use.

WetGeek

tomscharbach If I remember right, VB is the VM client you use.

Yes. And I've never had an issue with it before. I decided to start over with the "core" .ISO. I created a new VM (same settings as before) and ran the ISO. Last time, I went directly to the installer. This time, I ran the live image, which came complete with a bottom panel and a start menu (among other things).

So, I ran the installer from the desktop icon of the live image, and the installation took many times longer than it did the first time. I'm pretty sure I have a viable installation now, but I've also been busy installing and configuraing a new router, so I haven't checked it any farther.

More later, maybe.

tomscharbach

WetGeek More later, maybe.

After you've had a chance to explore Zorin Core, I'll be interested to learn what you think about Zorin Core as a potential Windows 10 replacement for newbies. Newbies, along with the small business (Core Pro) and educational (Education) markets, are Zorin's target audience.

WetGeek

tomscharbach I'll be interested to learn what you think about Zorin Core as a potential Windows 10 replacement for newbies.

I'll be glad to let you know, but it won't be right away. Issues with the new router installation caused so many problems with my laptop that I figured it was a good time to nuke it and start over. That's given me an opportunity to revise some things that I thought I might have done differently the first time, and my laptop is turning out to be an improved version of its former self.

My .ISO files reside on the NAS, so there's no need to download any of those again. But re-creating my VMs and configuring them is still pretty low on my to-do list. And a Zorin VM is pretty low on my VM list. I won't forget your request, but frankly, I don't see how anything could be better than Solus/Budgie for weaning users away from Windows.

riffer

Zorin is a good distro, and the one I recommend to new users. The quick theme changes is a key. Unfortunately it just isn't "snappy" enough for my daily driver. I have one computer with Pro installed just to try out all the software and to play Youtube etc. on my TV.

I've also pilfered "ZorinGrey-Dark" for my shell theme. 😄

tomscharbach

riffer Zorin is a good distro, and the one I recommend to new users.

That's where I am coming out, too, particularly for users coming from Windows 10 who want a computer that "just works" out-of-the-box for standard use cases. Zorin is well-adapted for that purpose.

DJSupertel

I run Zorin 15.3 lite on a very old Compaq CQ70 laptop with Celeron processor and 2gb of ram and its been really reliable. So reliable I saw no reason to upgrade to 16 lite. As for 16 core edition on more up to date hardware I found it OK but compared to Solus Plasma my main OS it was a bit slow and clunky!

tomscharbach

WetGeek Zorin VM is pretty low on my VM list. I won't forget your request, but frankly, I don't see how anything could be better than Solus/Budgie for weaning users away from Windows.

No problem. If you get to it, that's fine. If you don't, that's fine too. I was just curious.

Brucehankins

tomscharbach I think it's evident from my previous post, but I think Zorin is great for users switching from W10. That said, I think it's great for only one type of user.
I feel like there are many types of users, but the largest number of people seem to fall in the "pay my bills, watch videos, you know computer stuff" group. These types of people don't use or need a bunch of specific software, and aren't power users. They mostly use a browser and a program like MS Word.
They need their preferred browser and a familiar look and feel, and that's where Zorin kills it in my opinion. You could throw Chrome on the task bar and tell most of those users it was a new theme that was rolled out, and they'd wouldn't notice and would be fully up and running in less than 15 minutes.

tomscharbach

Brucehankins I think it's evident from my previous post, but I think Zorin is great for users switching from W10. That said, I think it's great for only one type of user.

I agree that Zorin is a good fit for Windows migrants who use a computer to "pay my bills, watch videos, you know computer stuff" (who probably comprise at least 75% of computer users outside of a work environment). Zorin's careful redesign of Gnome to give Windows 10 migrants a familiar look-and-feel makes migration easy, as it is intended to do.

A case in point: A friend and his wife have two computers, a 2014 desktop and a 2017 travel laptop. Neither is eligible for Windows 11. The two have very simple needs, basically a browser, a word processor, and a photo editor to handle roughly 300 million "cutest grandchildren in the world" photos. One of their sons cut them over to Zorin last fall and I've served as "geezer geek" for them as they adjusted to Zorin. I've been surprised how easy the transition has been for them. Their son set Zorin up to replicate their Windows environment as closely as possible to reduce the learning curve, and they had no trouble adapting.

Zorin's "familiarity" for Windows users is its great strength. I leveraged that in a use case at the railroad museum over the winter, setting up three identical 2014 computers in different buildings using a shared "project/status" database for the shops. Everyone used Windows at home, so I set the computers up with that in mind, replicating the Windows look-and-feel carefully and installing Chrome and several other browsers with identical bookmarks/favorites so that whoever was hunting parts would be in a familiar environment. So far, everyone seems to have adapted just fine, and I suspect half of them have no idea that they are running Linux.

The weakness of Zorin -- and this is true for Linux in general -- is that users of the type we are talking about quickly get overwhelmed if they need to get into the "plumbing", because Linux in general has inferior (to Windows) GUI tools for that purpose. That's when I get the "geezer geek" calls and when the "Just works" meme falls apart for the kind of user we are discussing.

It doesn't surprise me that Zorin shows up on almost every "Best Distros for Windows Users" list. The Zorin brothers have done a good job designing Zorin to be just that ...

WetGeek

I told Tom that once I got my Plasma laptop rebuilt, I'd re-create my VMs, including Zorin Core, and let him know what I thought of it as a Windows alternative. Thats done now, and as you can see, Zorin is a very lean distro.

Above are the listings of my VMs in the VirtualBox Virtual Media Manager. I was surprised that Plasma wasn't the smallest, as it was the last time I did this exercise, but I now believe that was some kind of a fluke. It makes sense to me that all the Solus DEs are similar in size. Also of note: the Zorin VM is about 1/2 the size of the Windows 10 VM. That would be a strong vote for Zorin vs. Windows, especially on marginal equipment.

I have a standard configuration for the VMs that I create: install the OS, add my BashrcAdditions (macros) to the terminal, and install the micro editor, Vivaldi, and nfs-utils. Then I modify /etc/fstab to include my NAS shares, add LastPass to Vivaldi, and complete its settings to my satisfaction. That's what I consider an initial configuration to make the VM into a useful computer, and it's how all of the Solus VMs above started out.

Overall, I was very impressed with Zorin Core. It shows careful attention to creating a pleasant and smooth user experience. I think ex-Windows users could adapt to it as easily as they could adopt any Linux distro. I feel pretty much the same about Solus Budgie. Either one would be an excellent introduction to the Linux culture.

So yes, Tom. in my opinion, Zorin would be a good choice for casual Windows users. I should point out, however, that even I would need some training in order to become comfortable with it. I wasn't able to set it up like the Solus VMs despite spending more than an hour trying to.

I tried to locate or install Micro, the best CLI editor, as I intended to add my NAS shares to /etc/fstab. I finally settled for Nano, for lack of anything better. Then I found out that Nano apparently supports cut/copy/paste only within Nano. It was unable to paste the fstab additions I'd copied from the file manager's view. But in the end, that didn't matter much, because it appears that there's no /etc/fstab in Zorin. I also couldn't find any way to install Vivaldi, so I couldn't configure that. And I found no evidence that Zorin supports multiple workspaces, although even Windows does.

None of these perceived drawbacks might matter to a casual Windows user, but I wanted to do my best to configure Zorin like one of my Solus VMs, for comparison. It might have been possible with some additional research, but I didn't have more time to spend on it. I'll revisit the Zorin VM soon. There is a lot to like about Zorin, and I look forward to learning more about it.

tomscharbach

Thanks for the thoughtful review.

WetGeek So yes, Tom. in my opinion, Zorin would be a good choice for casual Windows users. I should point out, however, that even I would need some training in order to become comfortable with it. I wasn't able to set it up like the Solus VMs despite spending more than an hour trying to.

From your description, it looks like you are doing things -- setting up NAS shares, modifying the terminal, and so on -- that the target audience (casual Windows users who check e-mail, surf the web, pay their bills and so on) would not need to do or care about. Zorin is not a good fit for you, but you are in a different place than a newbie migrating from Windows.

WetGeek None of these perceived drawbacks might matter to a casual Windows user ...

I think that's right. I had Zorin installed on my railroad 11-3180 until the laptop blew up, so I've used it in the real world. It isn't my preferred distro, but having seen it in a newbie migration and in use at the railroad, Zorin seems to be a good fit for casual users migrating from Windows. It is a low learning curve for that use case.

I've been thinking about this issue because I've got quite a few "casual user" friends with pre-Gen8 computers running Windows 10 but not eligible for Windows 11 migration. My current advice to them is to stick with Windows 10 for a couple more years (why fix what's not broken), and then look at the issue again, making a choice at that time between buying new equipment and running Windows 11 or keeping their existing computer and migrating to Linux. I'm trying to have a solution in hand for them if they elect to move to Linux, and Zorin, at this point, seems to be the best fit. Who knows what the picture will look like in two years?

WetGeek [T]he Zorin VM is about 1/2 the size of the Windows 10 VM. That would be a strong vote for Zorin vs. Windows, especially on marginal equipment.

I'm not surprised. I noticed that Zorin took just about 10GB installed on my 11-3180. I hadn't expected that. Zorin Core uses Gnome, so it isn't "lightweight", but it is compact. The now-defunct 11-3180 had a 32GB eMMC soldered drive, so size mattered in that case, although Solus Budgie came in under 12GB, which is six of one, half dozen of the other for all practical matters.

Again, thanks very much for responding with your impressions.