 Visitor Reviews |
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Reader supplied reviews for Zorin OS
Average rating
8.6 from 326 review(s)
Version: 18-r3
Rating: 9
Date: 2026-02-05
Votes: 7
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Its very nice, I came from Windows. Zorin feels like home, just wish media thumbnails came included in the original package and that Pro Zorin gives a bit more features. I think Zorin has great potential for mass appeal overtime, Window OS days are numbered! I would be considered a casual and my eyes opened on how invasive windows is and it's very corcerning! Windows doesn't make me feel secure or stable esspically dealing with large amounts of data! I want my PC to be MY PERSONAL COMPUTER. Microsoft takes that appeal and feeling from me with all it's invasive over the top features! Thanks Linux / Zorin contrubuters! You guys are awesome!
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Version: 18-r3
Rating: 7
Date: 2026-02-04
Votes: 1
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I tried it on a laptop with decent hardware a 1335u Intel and 16 gb ram. It’s a ok Linux OS not exactly sure Brave is a good choice as the default browser. Many coming from Windows probably using Chrome. Although Brave builds on Chromium same as Chrome just more privacy oriented.
Zorin just feels like a mixed bag of Ubuntu, old school UI and trying to hard to impress Windows OS user converts. Much like a lot of distros the mix is more a recipe change than any real ingredient changes. It’s the real problem so many slightly changed recipes just to create yet another distribution. I can see why so many distro hop because nothing really clicks and you are always tempted to think the grass is always greener on another distribution.
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Version: 18-r3
Rating: 9
Date: 2026-01-29
Votes: 4
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Zorin 18 offers smoothed eye-candy visuals in a tasty layout for curious users or Windows refugees. Coming over from Mint, this is a completely different flavor OS and not comparable as another Me Too Mint Fan Boy in a shiny package. Aside from the under hood nits and nats, or demanding benchmark gaming performance, it delivers 'there ya go' navigation and feel. Basically a user aimed delight that doesn't annoy me. The finest out of the box - stupid easy intuitive OS I've ever experienced. Zero learning curve.
Less OS depth and tools can be a plus for 'set it and forget it' types. This thing runs like a screaming banshee on reasonable hardware. Should you like simple and prefer not writing code to discover your printer, this pup rocks. It welcomes users not intimidates them.
I find the menus, colors, and fonts friendly, soft on the eyes, basically a pleasure to use. This thing is super easy to tweak and forgiving to restore from a snap-shot file or totally blow it away and reload. I've broken it several times and in every case Timeshift brought her back to happy as hoped. Window restore? Not so much.
So yeah, if you want less drama with a stupid easy intuitive desktop that doesn't look like blick, here ya go. I call it a Goldilocks OS. Not too Minty nor a Plasma Vegas showboat. It's just right. Put up a new Asus NUC mini PC for my 78 year old mother in law. She says it's the 'best computer she's ever had'. Zorin is a hit with but another market - retired folks. Why? See above -simple and initiative.
Z-Bros see markets like education not just doe-headed Windows converts. They're rolling out Internet based multi-machine remote admin control. That's a win for small business. This type of thinking is outside the box from normy distros. You'll see reviews saying the paid version of Zorin 18 Pro is just the Core release with additional free apps and a couple extra desktop layouts installed. Not so true. I see why the product separation. They're developing Pro with pro functions like the remote admin feature. So as the products mature, this will become more clear. The Core is awesome as is where reviews are correct. At this time you don't 'need' Pro. Can always upgrade the license later.
Noticed Elementary has a fee based only option to download. Thinking it's not unreasonable to have a revenue stream. If you're using and enjoying a product, it's fair to find a way to support them. Better supporting a couple brothers hammering out code producing something I like than handing money to Micro$oft now forcing an on-line account to install Win 11 Home Edition. They said no local Admin for you! I say fine, no sale for them.
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Version: 18-r2
Rating: 9
Date: 2026-01-16
Votes: 0
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tl:dr A very impressive distro graphically and probably the one you want if you're coming from Windows to Linux and want the least hassle of converting.
The default desktop will remind you of Windows 10 or 11 and (if you're like me) you can pick other looks as well. If you want something more, feel free to buy the Pro version, which will give you added configuration styles and some other perqs, but the free Core version is almost identical, quite sufficient, and (again) free.
My only quibble is the default browser is no longer Firefox, but Brave. Brave works well for the most part -- aside from its long-term obsession with crypto and its new obsession with AI -- but it's backed by democracy-killer Peter Thiel, and was started by noted homophobe Brendan Eich, so if that kind of thing floats your boat go for it. Kind of gives me the ick, though. And, really, who needs yet another Chrome-based browser like Brave filling up the ecosystem?
No distro is perfect, but this one will probably give you the fewest issues if you're brand new to Linux, or even want to run a few Windows program via the Wine emulation package. Other distros to check out would include Mint, Pop_OS! (nice for coders and Denver-based -- go Broncos!), elementaryOS (looks kinda like a Mac), Ubuntu (the OG easy-to-use distro, but best on more recent hardware), and Fedora (if their RedHat/IBM connection doesn't put you off, this is a pretty cutting-edge distro that'll give you all the new stuff first).
Anyway, that's what I think. Could be wrong.
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Version: 18-r2
Rating: 6
Date: 2026-01-13
Votes: 0
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tried 18 core (and other, older versions several times, too) and i'm not really amused.
the bugs are so heavy that i chose to use another distro. the whole desktop seems to hang sometimes without intense use of anything on my laptop. there are 3 monitors in my pc-setup and i had to deal with different "monitors.xml" files in order to get it work. and when it worked, only got black screen after login with just a mouse cursor visible. absolute horrible!
zorin often struggles with things that other distros manage without any problem and since a long time - how can that be in 2026?
but i have the feeling that many distros struggle in a similar way since wayland (and other bad things) are in use. it seems to throw distros and programmers back for several years. that's a very sad linux-development.
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Version: 18-r2
Rating: 2
Date: 2026-01-12
Votes: 0
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Every time I try and burn a disk image using Brasero, it seems to have a different file manager from the GNOME one. It cannot find
my external SSD. Uninstalled Brasero, and installed XFBURN and the file manager it uses works fine. The Zorin FM seems to have a
problem too, requiring reboot to start working again. I'll pick a folder to go to and it won't do anything but lock up so I have to do a force quit then it seems to start working again. One thing I noticed, when it doesn't want to work, I'll usually get a blank screen in the FM with no files listed. I'll click on the sidebar to try and go to /home or any other folder and its completely locked up. As for the Brasero problem, prior to uninstalling it, I tried to re install but that did'nt help. I don't want to discourage people from using this distro as I still continue to use, but I don't want to sign up for anything just to report a bug. Its easier here. Sorry. Just now I clicked on the file manager to open and got the blank screen again. Forced it to quit, then tried re running it and it opened with the /home folder as it should.
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Version: 18-r2
Rating: 2
Date: 2026-01-09
Votes: 0
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Revisiting Zorin after over a year due to all the hype. Unfortunately, this distro still has issues with my mouse cursor. Not touching the mouse, it seems to be drawn to the bottom center of the screen. Once there it moves rapidly about a centimeter on the bottom center of the screen.
This is the same issue I had with Zorin over a year ago. So for me, they can claim all the greatness, but it doesn't replace windows. For one, I never had this issue on Windows. Secondly, Windows has a slideshow. It's 2026 and to see a distro without a wallpaper slideshow is ridiculous. I can't use a distro without a slideshow besides the mouse (cursor) issue, that's a deal killer for me.
The Brave browser comes pre-installed. Which Zorin states they modified. I don't know what they did to it, but I am unable to install webapps through the browser. I guess they force people to use their webapp app. Which is sandboxed as I understand. So that's not entirely a bad thing. However, the webapp app didn't work right for me. So to discover that's the only way to install webapps is annoying.
Well if you like Zorin, good for you. But I can't use this garbage. Good luck to the devs.
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Version: 8.1
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-12-24
Votes: 42
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Definitely a great distro for refugees coming to the Linux world from the Windows 11 debacle. It can be made to look and feel Windows-like. It can run many Windows programs without a huge amount of tweaking. It looks gorgeous -- I'd rate it the most beautiful Linux of all, in fact (and I've tried dozens). It's solid and straightforward.
As for Core or Pro ($$) versions ... the former does it all for me. If you have extra cash and want to support development of Zorin (or get a few more desktop looks) by all means buy a license.
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Version: 18-r2
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-12-22
Votes: 10
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I have been using Zorin on and off since it was Zorin 9. Then I bought the pro version of Zorin 16 and I have enjoyed it immensely. I have been a Linux user off and on since Red Hat 5.2 which should tell you how long I've been in the Linux system. Ubuntu and Mint have had my attention for a long time but Zorin does better with Bluetooth connections than most of them. It isn't perfect, not even Windoze can claim that but I enjoy using my computer much more with Linux than having to satisfy an OS that begs for an anti-virus program to run all of the time.
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Version: 18-r2
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-12-21
Votes: 25
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I would really be embarrassed to find anything wrong with this distro. I've used Mint for more than 10 years now and was curious to see what zorin os would offer. I was impressed to find a system utterly polished, rapid and easy to customize as Mint was and still is. What I find more appealing for me is the interface and the fact that on the go Zorin offers different UI customization already very functional. But this is a personal natter, I bought the pro version even if I was conscious the base version was totally op. After using it for a few months, I choose to give de devs a financial feedback and appreciation of their work and professionalism.
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Version: 18-r2
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-12-18
Votes: 13
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This is probably the best looking distro. Everything I tried worked: iPhone, printer, scanner. I used Zorin for two weeks and didn't notice a single bug. The Zorin brothers have managed to make the gnome desktop really great.
But why am I only giving it an eight? I don't like that the Brave browser is the default. I understand that Zorin is based on Ubuntu and therefore many programs are installed via snapd. For someone used to debian-based distributions, this is quite annoying. I would have liked that at least Firefox and Thunderbird could be installed via apt. I have previously used Evolution. There are problems restoring the backup and you have to press the Wait button many times. Maybe the problem is with the gnome desktop. I think Zorin is very suitable for a beginner Linux user.
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Version: 18
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-12-13
Votes: 4
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Core 18 has been a genuine alternative to a Windows machine. I can only echo the positive reviews that Zorin has garnered.
For my non technical family members, they were happily using it without issue in a matter of a few minutes. As long as their browser works, have access to Office 365, then they were satisfied. (Adding those products as web apps to the taskbar made it all seamless)
Now a couple of nitpicks:
Samba file sharing is broken in ver 18 (UPDATE: there is a new revision in the downloadable ISO with "r1" appended to the distro file. This might contain a fix). It cannot create standard Samba shares in the usual way and is a known bug with the kernal. It DOES read and locate network shares without issue. Just can't create its own. A niche problem, but a genuine one for heavily networked homes like mine
The Nautilus file management system is a little flaky. It will occassionally hang for no reason, has to be forced closed and then all is good again.
Top tier distro.
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Version: 18
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-11-30
Votes: 18
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This is probably the best looking distro. Everything I tried worked: iPhone, printer, scanner. I used Zorin for two weeks and didn't notice a single bug. The Zorin brothers have managed to make the gnome desktop really great.
But why am I only giving it an eight? I don't like that the Brave browser is the default. I understand that Zorin is based on Ubuntu and therefore many programs are installed via snapd. For someone used to debian-based distributions, this is quite annoying. I would have liked that at least Firefox and Thunderbird could be installed via apt. I have previously used Evolution. There are problems restoring the backup and you have to press the Wait button many times. Maybe the problem is with the gnome desktop. I think Zorin is very suitable for a beginner Linux user.
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Version: 18
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-11-29
Votes: 51
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I installed this on a AMD A10-7800 with dual graphics AMD R7 and 8GB of RAM. The Installation went through without problems. Had some screen flickering in Chromium though, which was solved by switching to X11 as default display protocol.
Zorin OS is a great alternative to Windows. It's over, M$! Finally, we are free!
It is beautifully designed, polished, works flawlessly, fast, predictable, installs necessary software in a few clicks, the search works brilliantly, it's just a joy to use!
Several Windows applications work without any customization needed, which is astonishing. The System installs the necessary tools for this automatically. I used Irfanview, which is directly available through the integrated Software App.
I want to encourage anybody frustrated especially of Win11 to come over and try it out. You'll be in love instantly.
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Version: 18
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-11-21
Votes: 45
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Over the past 20 years I have indulged in a number of linux distros, with my favorite daily drivers as MX Linux and Mint. I have tried Zorin off and on over the years but didn't really see that it was any better than either of the aforementioned. i purchased the "Pro" version some years ago, maybe around v12, or so; can't remember for sure in order to support what I considered a good distro, and I wanted to support them for the effort they bring to the broader linux community.
I recently inherited an iMac 19.1, which I decided to convert to linux. MX and Mint were not successful, mostly because the iMac 19.1 with a Cannon Lake processor was not supported very long by Intel, which I didn't know at first. I installed Zorin Core to see if they might have some kind of updated driver for the amdgpu, sound and wifi, After searching, troubleshooting and trying various things, I discovered that Zorin had a step-by-step process to help make this hardware work. I was expecting failure yet again, but low and behold, I got things working splendidly, Graphics are great with the support help I got on the Zorin site, so of course I bought the "pro" license, again to support their efforts. Added an external speaker and wifi TP-Link dongle and everything works very well
I've put this box and Zorin through it's paces this past week and I really can see the value add for this distro, Their support forum is helpful and to the point. The curated software works flawlessly, though I also added Synaptic because I'm so used to it.
I think this is a great distro for newbies, and those caught in the WinDoze 10 diaspora. Personally, I don't even understand why people even WANT to install Win 11. I bought a Dell laptop last spring and started to play around with Win 11, and it is atrocious, buggy spamware in my opinion, i don't know how people actually use it and can get anything done during the workday. I lasted about 2 weeks, trying to experiment with it, and instead of dual booting any more, I just deleted the Win 11 side and expanded the free space for Mint on that box. With Zorin working as well as it is, I just might be replacing that Mint.
I can find nothing that I want to do that Zorin can't handle well and elegantly. I highly recommend for anyone.
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Version: 18
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-11-19
Votes: 3
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I tried Zorin Core first to replace Win10. Good looking, limited customizing. Tried the tiling, but the tiles always overlapped. Gave up on tiling, I can do better with normal adjustment of windows. Since I had a Mozilla account which synchronizes Firefox and Thunderbird across all devices, I would have to replace Brave and Evolution. Doable, but not my 1st choice.
FWIW, I ended up with MX Linux (KDE) as my distro of choice (tried Zorin, Mint, Pop OS, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Studio). None of them did any better or worse at hardware recognition on my system. All failed to install or recognized 2 different USB wireless cards, and all initially struggled with my HP Laserjet 1020 on a USB port. Selecting the latest HP printer driver package in Windows solved the printer issue. On the wireless front, I had to give up and buy a PCIe wireless card from Think Penguin which worked out of the box in both Windows and Linux, no driver install needed.
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Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-11-17
Votes: 15
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Once I found I couldn't update my "daily driver" PC to Win 11....I said, "It's finally time to switch to Linux full time". I was not disappointed and haven't looked back since. The only issue that I have had is that I have a couple Windows apps that wouldn't install via Wine/Bottles. But since they were not vital apps, I found a reasonable Linux alternative and moved on.
I have only been using it daily for 4 or 5 months. I have been impressed and haven't once thought of replacing the PC with Windows since I've started using it. Being a Linux enthusiast trying many different distros before deciding which one i would land on, Zorin just seemed to be the quickest and best laid out for my workflows and seemed the most intuitive to use immediately on a daily basis without a lot of "care and feeding".
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-11-17
Votes: 16
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I've been using linux for 28 years on my desktop and laptop.
After all those years, I settled for smooth experience, stability, minimal cli need and the need for vast software selection.
Zorin is nice looking, stable distro. Its been my goto distro for the last 3 years. Shortcomings exist but all smoothed out with updates over time. It seems perfect.
I recommend it to all experienced and non experienced users. Specially if you are transitioning from windows. You wil feel at home with Zorin.
Cheers,
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Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-11-14
Votes: 12
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Well first off, although its a damn good distro, and works extremely well on older computers, but version 18 pro does have a few quirks.
I originally used v17.3 pro, with zero problems. Version 18's installer though, can sometimes be a frustrating experience. I wanted to put this on an old desktop, with a Asus FM1 motherboard, with 4-core cpu and 8Gb memory. Should work ok I thought. NO.
I was using a Ventoy usb stick, with loads of other ISO's also on it, which always worked. Some people say don't use Rufus to put the ISO on the stick, or Ventoy, but it's always worked fine for me.
This time, on booting from the Ventoy stick, I got Zorin's 'live' desktop come up ok. Great, so lets install it using the desktop installer icon.
Started off ok, until the keyboard selection came up, and it hung. Tried this several times, always hung, probably due to some incompatibity.
Not wanting give up, I had a look at other people's experiences, so to save anybody having to hunt around the net, I'll put on here what I managed to discover, because I managed to eventually install it;
*First off, in the Bios/UEFI, DISABLE Secure boot, Fast boot, Windows boot (if it's there).
*Next boot up into Zorins 'live desktop'. Don't use the installer yet!.
* From the desktop, disable networking. Disconnect from the internet, that is any LAN and Wi-fi connections, or the installation may hang.
*Start the installation from the desktop icon, or menu. During the installation process, UNCHECK the boxes 'Download updates automatically' and 'install third-party software'.
By using these steps, I finally managed to get Zorin 18 Pro installed. Hope this works for you, as it did for me. *Be patient installing it, it does take a while.
P.S I had to uninstall the 'Brave' internet browser, as it didn't work properly for me. Installed Firefox, which works ok.
Sorry if this all a bit long-winded, but thought it might help.
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Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-11-14
Votes: 9
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I was given the older Macbook 12 from around 2016 era.
Not being an Apple fan I decided to experiment with linux on it.
if I broke it, who cares. Now the stats on the machine are good, 8 gig ram, 500 something hard drive.
I tried many of my current Linux distros on it with varying degrees of success from not installing to not starting to no keyboard operation etc etc.
I use Zorin 17 on an older machine and it works good so i put 18 onto the Macbook 12.
Every things seems to work even setting up remote monitor and getting it to respond to the Mac workings was not too bad.
The Mac has some really quirky habits but that is probably due to we only want apple on Mac.
I trust Zorin but not the Mac at this stage so I treat the machine as an auxiliary.
If Zorin 18 works this well on this little Mac it may well advance to a daily driver.
Keep up the good work Zorin team.
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Version: 18
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-11-12
Votes: 13
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Perfection, I was using Linux Mint as My daily driver I liked it but some of of my Steam games would not start no matter what Proton version I used.
I downloaded and Installed Zorin In less than 15 Minutes and have not looked back, everything just works so well My games have more FPS than Mint and even Windows.
It is easy to use even My partner who is not very good with Tech can log in and use it with No problems.
This one is a keeper as My days Dual booting are over and Zorin has everything I need in Distro and OS.
I would recommend this to anybody who is starting the Journey with Linux from seasoned Win and Mac users to a person who has never used a computer before.
This Year and Next year will be Time for Linux to shine and shine bright.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-11-09
Votes: 7
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Always wanted to dump W***ows but every time I tried I hit road blocks. Downloaded Zorin today, installed on a HP laptop very quickly and it just worked. So easy to find my way around and to use with Linux apps. My computer has never been so quick (even when it was new). I was able to map all of my network drives / file sharing devices with ease.
As for being customizable, altering things to suit my eye sight and cognitive ability I was most impressed.
This is the first Distro I have not had to fumble around with. This is not to criticise other distros just that Zorin suits me extremely well.
Thankyou to all involved.
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Version: 18
Rating: 6
Date: 2025-11-05
Votes: 1
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Has a few issues. Went back to Zorin 17.3 I was using the new Zorin 18 core desktop but had issues with the file manager and some other things that did not seem right. I like the extra desktops that Zorin Pro provides but had to switch back to the previous version because it was not working correctly. The file manager crashed several times, which was an immediate red flag for me. Not having the extra desktops was not an issue going to Zorin 18 core but with the issues it has, I had to re install 17.3 until v18 gets fixed.
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Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-22
Votes: 42
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The newest Zorin OS release is marketed towards Windows refugees as Windows 10 reached its end of support.
I, being already an intermediate Linux user, couldn't really get comfortable with 17.3 - it had its glitches making it not really approachable to anyone who hasn't even touched Linux in their lives.
Does version 18 change it? Well, it has its strong points:
1. Their GNOME implementation is just superb; it resembles the traditional desktop metaphor most computer users are accustomed to, with the panel at the bottom of the screen, app launcher on the left side of the panel and system tray on the right. It doesn't differ from previous releases, but it makes the first experience smoother. Also, the app launcher looks similar to this of Windows 7, with the shortcuts to most needed desktop folders.
If one doesn't want to use default, Windows-like setup, they can choose one from 3 also available, or even more if they don't mind sparing some money. Theming also looks excellent - it looks sugary and flat, but colors have been reworked for the version 18 and light themes aren't as blinding as they used to be.
2. Web Apps are a concept borrowed from Mint. As I could see, not only a concept, but an entire app and management system. Not a bad thing, Mint team did a great job and their solution works flawlessly.
3. Software management works nice. Zorin supports all major packaging formats available for Debian/Ubuntu - both APT-specific and universal ones. I only wish DEBs were more prioritised, there isn't a graphical setting to change that, you have to do some terminal work instead (!).
4. Version 18 is far more optimized than 17.x series ever was. The system is more responsive, screen stopped flickering and tearing, no driver issues in general.
Ok, so if everything is so nice, why only 9 out of 10?
Well, Zorin Lite will stop bering developed. I mean, despite its name, it wasn't light at all - in fact it was one of the heaviest Xfce implementations - but let's be fair, GNOME might be problematic for some devices manufactured in Windows 7 era and Xfce, if correctly maintained, performs much, much better on less resources.
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All in all, I get why Zorin developers promote it as the ultimate Linux distro for beginners.
Personally, having used 18 even since beta, I didn't have any issues with it - the desktop experience truly felt like Windows 10 with no telemetry and redundant processes running in the background.
But it's just my opinion, you might need to validate it yourself. From me, there goes a strong recommendation.
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Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-18
Votes: 10
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I use the Zorin Lite version on several computers, namely a circa-2007 Acer Aspire 4736Z with a dual Pentium processor and 4GTB of RAM. This machine now runs like a practically new laptop with webpages, including heavy social media and YouTube videos snapping into place. I've also experimented with it on Atom processor netbooks; the only ones capable are those equipped with the dual-core N570 (i.e. the Acer Aspire One 13450). any thing less than that (the N455 and below) will run, but not acceptably so. However, the N570 with 2GB of RAM handles tasks with ease. Videos come up quickly and will play smoothly and cleanly. Zorin comes highly recommended!
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Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-18
Votes: 6
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Had (and paid for) Zorin 17. After a few different distro's went back to 18, the Core now. Running this next to Win11 and Commodore, no probs. I use it for a lot of different things, gaming, programming, internet, music. So far every game on Steam works (with Proton). E-mail, whatsapp, facebook etc. all run great as well. To me Zorin always is one of the most reliable versions. Sometimes I almost forget I'm not in Windows, that must be good. All in all I sure recommend Zorin, Pro or Core. The pro has some more layouts and a lot of software installed but the software I can install myself so I only get what I want and need.
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Version: 18
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-10-18
Votes: 3
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I have an old used laptop which is a Dell XPS, i used to run microsoft on that thing, and at one point they used to work for the end-user. it was nice. but like taking candy from a baby i guess customers aren't supposed to have nice things. we used to pay for the product /operating system and it would work for us. somehow they flipped that idea on its head and decided that we don't pay for the operating system kinda sorta, but that we instead work for them while they give us a "free" platform and in exchange that they get to pilfer our data and pillage control of the entire system.
MIRCOSOFT has turned into MACROSHAFT.
i like Zorin because zorin respects me and its easy to use. it reminds me of what microsoft programs use to be but better. it does what i tell it to and it doesn't get in the way. it also dont steal my data and shove AI crap down my throat. I tried manjaro after watching Linus attempt to use it but i was having some hiccups after installing it.
oh and one more thing, my laptop was a windows 7 when i bought it than i switched to windows 10 and is fast like new again because i put zorin on it for two weaks now.
The system colors are amazing. there not red/white/yellow but they should be because my laptop feels faster than the flash. zorin has my laptop zoomin like it took some velocity 9 and i'm super happy, so i guess the blue and white makes sense in that regard. even more appropriate when i notice the "star labs" ads on the side of this page.
if i have one thing to say to Team Zorin it would be please take my money, thank you so much and keep up the wonderful work! i know you guys are irish so i wish i could kiss you.
please forgive my grammer as english is not my first language. now if you don't mind i have an old tv show to catch up on. Gracias!
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Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-18
Votes: 1
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I have been a Zorin OS user for about 7 years now. I like it because while it is not bleeding edge, it is not a slouch either. The user interface is a definite plus for people coming over from Windows, and the updates are demanding total desktop changes. 18 has minor tweaks as well as options for alternate desktops. Zorin Pro is for people who want the kitchen sink in Linux with many productivity apps bundled in. Zorin Core 18 is a good place to start if you don't need all the bloat and want to install only what you want.
I just wanted a "steady eddy" of releases for Linux, stable with no surprises or blow ups and Zorin seems to be working in this direction. I am not a super tweaker and install a zillion widgets to suit my fancy, I am more about personal and stable productivity.
The only demerit is that it still doesn't support certain apps under xWayland, while Linux Mint does.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-10-17
Votes: 10
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I started getting interested in Linux in 2024. I tried several popular distributions such as Manjaro, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, and Zorin OS.
I installed each distribution on both my laptop and desktop PC, trying to evaluate the system’s performance for everyday office work and gaming.
Out of all these distributions, I chose Zorin OS.
Because:
- It has the most native packages from developers.
Nowadays, almost every program provides a .deb package.
Yes, I don’t like Snap or Flatpak.
- There’s at least some funding and an attempt to move toward commercial use.
They're integrating their distro into schools, selling it preinstalled on computers.
Why is this important? Because no one wants to work well and productively for free. And honestly, neither would I.
- The system works right out of the box.
Codecs are already installed, and the driver for my NVIDIA card can be set up during installation or with just a couple of clicks in the Software & Updates app.
Yes, I don’t want to install software using terminal commands, I don’t want to dig through forums and guides - I want everything ready from the start.
- Preinstalled interface layouts that can be changed with one click.
What I also like is that the Zorin OS team doesn’t just take GNOME extensions available in the GNOME Extensions store, they rework and optimize them for their system, improving performance and integration.
And yes, I bought Zorin OS Pro 17, and I’m satisfied with it.
Zorin is convenient, pleasant, and comfortable to use, and I don’t plan on switching to anything else.
I’ve noticed a trend in the Linux community - a constant search for new challenges and difficulties.
“Wow, I finally understand how this distro works - now I’m bored. Time to move on to Gentoo! I’ve got so much free time, and I want to spend all of it compiling stuff and I use arch btw!”
I use Linux as a tool for my daily tasks, and Zorin is the most convenient and comfortable system I’ve tried so far.
Here are the downsides I can point out:
- There are three different apps for updates. In my opinion, it could all be combined into one, like it’s done in Fedora
- The GNOME interface is heavier, since it’s not vanilla but customized
- Dependence on Ubuntu
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Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-16
Votes: 6
|
A hard Freeze on an old Radeon 880G chipset (am3) Pc with brave browser, which was on windows 10, aside from that it was solid, was using about 1.6gb of ram out of 4gb and i like the look and feel of it although the flatpak version of firefox is not great (could not find the profile folder to import the firefox data from 10 dunno where the profile folder is with the flatpak version even though firefox claimed it was in the correct path it was not there, installed the zorin version and that cleared that up, profile folder was where it was intended to be /.mozilla) all in all a good experience aside from the hard freeze.
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Version: 16.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-10
Votes: 12
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I've been running Zorin OS for the past 2-3 years now. Other than a couple of mild software issues here and there, it has been absolutely enjoyable. I have also had a couple of critical moments where I either managed to completely screw up the operating system, or came especially close to it and was saved by boot repair, but that was my own fault. It's not perfect, though to be fair, I have yet to come across any distro that is. I have also been regularly using Windows 10 and Linux Mint simultaneously. Thanks to Microsoft and their recently abhorrent business practices, Linux (i.e., Zorin) will now become my daily driver and if you're new to exploring Linux distributions, and you've had it up to here with Microsoft (or Apple for that matter), then Zorin I couldn't recommend more highly! I love Linux Mint as well, but I have found Zorin to be a personal preference.
The only way I will ever continue to use Windows, is as a secondary boot drive for the sole purpose of playing certain games in the event that I can't get a specific title to run on my new installation of Linux. New, because I will be upgrading to version 18 in the next week or two.
Microsoft can suck it!
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-09
Votes: 3
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Really nice, Based on Ubuntu Jammy (22.04 LTS) so a bit out of date, Zorin 18 will be based on Ubuntu Noble (14.04 LTS) and should be way better.
Great for people who need to use both Windows and Linux as it wont ruin your muscle memory!
Super versatile, super functional.
Not a fan you have to pay for the pro version but I understand why, the devs need to feed their family.
Its a really smooth experience I just wish it defaulted to Firefox instead of brave.
All in all a good distro for most uses, nice for productivity!
Comes with Flatpak and Snap by default and adding Brew is easy!
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-10-08
Votes: 7
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One of the easiest and most adaptable Distros, with good support, regular updates, and solid build.
I have run it on everything from a 2012 2core i5 MacBook Pro to modern i7 systems, with 4GB to 32GB of RAM, with integrated GPU to 8GB discrete, and never had any issues, and have predictable performance across all systems--while it feels sluggish with 4GB of RAM (what doesn't?), it runs as smooth on 8GB with 2-core i5 as it does on an 8-core AMD with 16GB or 4-core, 8 thread with 32GB, always while pulling less resources than Windows 10 or 11.
I have used it for RAW photo editing, gaming, and general computer media use, and never found any lack.
I have even changed a laptop we use for a volunteer group from Windows 10 to Zorin 17, and so far, no one has had any difficulty in adapting to it.... I don't think some have even noticed the change of OS, just that it now runs a lot faster!
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-10-07
Votes: 0
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I use the Zorin Lite version on several computers, namely a circa-2007 Acer Aspire 4736Z with a dual Pentium processor and 4GTB of RAM. This machine now runs like a practically new laptop with webpages, including heavy social media and YouTube videos snapping into place. I've also experimented with it on Atom processor netbooks; the only ones capable are those equipped with the dual-core N570 (i.e. the Acer Aspire One 13450). any thing less than that (the N455 and below) will run, but not acceptably so. However, the N570 with 2GB of RAM handles tasks with ease. Videos come up quickly and will play smoothly and cleanly. Zorin comes highly recommended!
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-01
Votes: 17
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I bought a Pro licence in 2024 and used Zorin on a test laptop on and off for a year. Found the Zorin experience very positive.
My 4-year-old Windows 10 machine didn't "qualify" for Windows 11.
Really Microsoft ??
No need to add ewaste by buying a new machine. Switched to Zorin completely in August of 2025. My 4-year-old Ryzen 5 PC w 16 gigs of ram functions just fine.
Microsoft and the consumer PC industry are just too greedy.
Zorin has been great. I use it as my principal OS on my daily-driver PC.
Highly recommended. Updates are easy and my machine is very fast and stable.
I don't game. I use my machine for email, Web surfing, Youtube, etc
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-09-27
Votes: 11
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It is now my daily driver and just works. It works great on both old and newer hardware. It also has drivers for everything i threw at it. I especially like how you can tweak the look of the desktop multiple ways to be more pleasing to what you came from whether that is Windows or MacOS. The only knock I have is that I do wish the Steam integration was better with regards to Steam Play and the Proton layer for running games in linux. I have not had the best luck yet on my older systems getting Steam to work well. Lutris and Bottles did not fare much better for me either...
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Version: 16.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-09-25
Votes: 0
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IT was not great but assuming it was my first Linux distro i used it for a while when i closed the lid of my X202 ASUS it showed a black and red screen my tetchy aunt fixed it but i restarted it then BOOM Operating system gone we had to Install windows 7 Back since it was my childhood os Over all it is good Linux operating system it had Firefox as a Brower and easy connectivity to the internet and a sudoku game And a very user friendly Home screen But if you want Apps or to download something You have to use the terminal Making it a os for both Informational technologists and People who need to switch to Linux But have no experience I have experience on Linux now
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-09-20
Votes: 8
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I have just spent the last few hours checking out Zorin 17.3 Core. And I'm about to tell you what I think, but first I want to say I appreciate all the effort being made at this time by all the Linux distro creators who are doing their best work to come up with alternatives for Windows. It's really quite impressive.
I've often tried Zorin but as often as I have tried, I found it unsettling. I'm not quite sure why I couldn't get comfortable, maybe it was because it required too many clicks to get where I needed to go, or maybe because things were in odd places, I'm not sure.
But I'm happy to report with version 17.3 I think it's a winner. I particularly like all the settings and configuration for the desktop. Most other distros I've tried in the past, provided very limited desktop layouts.
As much as I like it, I'm not going to install just yet because I first want to try something else. Zorin has another offering, which is Zorin 17.3 Education. I'm going to check this out, I've got kids it might be helpful.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-09-20
Votes: 2
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After quite a while of using Zorin I have tried few popular distros. None of them impressed me like Zorin. It's very stable, gets stable updates, one of the best looking distros. It simply works the way OS should work.
I have also tried to stick with some other distros, but none of them made me say "This is what I wanna use in long term".
No need to write a lot more, just that I won't be looking at another distro anymore.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-09-05
Votes: 37
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I'm testing ZorinOS for about two days not, installed bare metal on a lenovo ideapad 320. I can't believe how flawlessly it works... I mean even with linux mint i had some hurdles and frequently needing to open the terminal. Here things seem to just work... the keyboard with all special buttons, video playback... everything. Snaps and flatpacks are great... i'm glad zorin supports them. The graphic design is also very beautiful... i'm not much into visuals but i appreciate the polished look. I'll continue testing it, but if things go on like this, i might switch from windows 10 to Zorin as daily driver.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-08-23
Votes: 24
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I love Zorin OS! More modern and sleek than Linux Mint while keeping it's power. No bloating, open-source like true Linux and way faster, more reliable, and just better than Windows while also taking the old Windows desktops into a modern world with Zorin Appearance - no other distro can do that. The User Interface is superior to all the distros I can find. And I get all of this while not spending a penny with the Zorin OS Free Version. People can hate on Zorin all they want. Go ahead! But that 8.5 star average rating tells you everything you need to know.
Of course there is some minor issues. Sometimes the store can replace the progress bar while installing an application with the "Install Button". This happens especially while installing two apps at the same time. This isn't too big of an issue since the installation of the application completes but is still annoying. However the Zorin Group didn't make the software store and I don't think their code is causing this since I had the same issue on plain old Ubuntu. I'm pretty sure that Zorin OS 18 based off Ubuntu 24.04 will fix this.
Also sometimes a portion of the cursor in the dash glitches and stays on the dash. You have to move the cursor back to the dash for the pieces to sink up. Happens a lot but does not make the OS unusable. I'm sure will be fixed in Zorin OS 18 too!
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-08-20
Votes: 6
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I've been using Zorin for about a year now. Some bugs I've seen are selection tool on desktop locking up system, requiring restart. Screen capture / Screen recording feature is suppose to allow you to show the mouse as you record what is happening on the screen but that does not work. The mouse positions itself in the upper left side and changes from current size to default size without moving, when you move the mouse on the screen being recorded. Other than that, Zorin is very solid as an OS and I plan to keep using it. I am a supporter of the project, having purchased the pro version.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-08-14
Votes: 12
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Stable, wonderful and BEAUTIFUL. I loved this OS. I didn't have any problems with the installation. The customization is very good, and you have several desktop to choose. The default desktop is very good anyways.
From the beginning, you have an interesting amount of applications to start your journey in Zorin OS. Definitely is a very good option you can do!
They have a paid version, that is totally worth it! And of course it's a direct way to support the project (the project was born in Ireland).
Definitely I loved this operative system!
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 3
Date: 2025-08-09
Votes: 0
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Zorin OS is "like windows" in the head of some developer who hasn't used windows in 20 years but thinks this is what it would be like.
That being said, it's not so far off that windows users could not quickly learn to use it instead. With some patience and some googling.
"It's productive" ... so is basically every OS? Like what is that even supposed to mean? Anything can be productive so long as it doesn't Actively interfere with work.
Same with power plans... everything in the last 15 years has them.
It works, is cohesive and well put together, is reasonably lightweight and does come with software for running windows programs... Mostly without major issues. But claiming it's a windows substitute when it's literally less like windows than cinnamon mint is just a lie.
Don't believe me? Put your average windows user in front of this and watch them.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-08-08
Votes: 10
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I have been using Zorin for a couple of months and so far no screen flickering like others, very stable, nvidia and wayland works great, nice looking, and the most important Zorin can be a very productive environment, similar to other Linux distributions. The manual partitioning and installation were as simple as possible.
In particular you can adjust power plans to prioritize battery life or reduce performance to balance, which can lower fan noise. Therefore, you work happy and deeply comfortable.
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Version: 16.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-07-30
Votes: 14
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Took the path to Linux because of my disappointment of MS decisions (login credentials using ms account forced, also more and more "native" installation of Copilot and AI everywhere, "reading" open tabs or local files to "optimize user experience" so... I'm pretty worried about the data protection overall as I work in cybersec fields.
I was surprised how easy the installation was made and how uncomplicated the transition went for me. Also, gaming with steam I was positively surprised to see steam is onboard and also nvidia is supported - one of my worries that i had to dive into the terminal / prompting to ged my 2080TI to work with linux - but it all went really well.
I'm a windows user since 3.1 / Dos 6.0 and I really was sad to have to leave MS - it was a wild ride. But I'm really happy I made the switch and feel "home" using Linux / Debian / Ubuntu thanks to Zorins intuitive approach for ex Windows-Users.
Clearly for me as a future Zorin Pro User to support the project I can only recommend this Distribution.
Look and Feel and usage for me a flawless 10/10.
Thank you, Team Zorin for making it easy to leave a beloved home to find a new cozy nest. Means the world to me.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-07-30
Votes: 5
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Don't come to Zorin if you are an experienced Linux user who is used to deep customizations to your own liking. There are long threads in the Zorin forums spelling out workarounds for things that would be simple tweaks in most other distros.
BUT, this distro is meant to be as Windows-like as it can be, so there it is for you. VERY well put together in looks and functionality; it really is in the "just works" category right from the beginning, and even in the live testing version. Install it and you'll be happy and can just begin your tasks confidently right from the first boot-up.
Software updates are well thought through and prepared, hence you'll not see breakage or things vanishing or being changed in strange ways; again, it just works.
You most certainly can customize the desktop, I am using Mate, and have it looking to your liking. I downloaded my favorite wallpapers and other items. I made the taskbar go to the bottom. I made the taskbar completely invisible with the icons and clock showing nicely in the colors I like. But again, don't try to go deep on customizations, Zorin wants the OS to work in its own ways, and that is fine.
The live environment detected my wifi and bluetooth devices, network, printers, phone, etc. And once installed, my personal tweaks and peripherals were right there ready to go as it remembered my live environment changes.
$49 for a solid, at least as good as Windows 11, linux distro.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-07-02
Votes: 56
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I have been using Zorin for the last 4 or 5 years.
It is stable and very compatible with the mainstream debian and Ubuntu, easier than debian, more stable then Ubuntu.
Experience out of the box is good no need deep customization to have a Nice and polished desktop.
Overall glad with the experience, and also the lack of "surprises".
Recomended if you want the work done without problems.
Simple Windows apps Run without problems.
It is sold with the idea of a easy system for people coming from Windows, but the way I ser it is more than that, a very pleasant and stable desktop.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-06-30
Votes: 15
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I have been using Windows for 30 years and currently have 2 laptops running W10 that cannot be upgraded to W11. I was torn between Mint and Zorin for a long time. I chose Zorin because of its ease of use, which is similar to W10, and I am satisfied.
- Unforeseen bonus after the migration, the 2 PCs have become rockets again.
- The frequency of updates can be easily set and they are installed at an incredible speed.
- I am curious about version 18, which should be coming soon, with Linux Kernel 6.15, I hope.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-06-26
Votes: 8
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Zorin OS is a standout Linux distribution that combines elegance, ease of use, and strong performance. Designed with newcomers in mind, especially those transitioning from Windows or macOS, it offers a familiar and intuitive interface. The layout switcher is a fantastic feature, allowing users to choose a desktop style that suits their workflow right out of the box.
Performance is excellent—even on older hardware. Zorin OS is lightweight and efficient, making it a great choice for reviving aging laptops or desktops without sacrificing usability or looks. It comes with a solid set of pre-installed apps and access to a wide range of software via the built-in software center.
Zorin Connect is another highlight, allowing seamless interaction between your Linux system and Android phone—perfect for sharing files, replying to messages, and more.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-06-20
Votes: 24
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Criminally underrated distro, probably due to their paid tier of "pro" version on their site which must scare or confuse some people away. The core (free) version is where it's at and the pro seems more of a method of supporting the devs without them directly asking for donations.
That aside, Zorin OS core (the free version, 17.3 as of this review) feels specifically tailored to someone coming over from Windows 10, to a much better degree than any other distro in this category such as Mint or Ubuntu.
Pros:
1. Its package manager / app store includes all formats right out of the box (native, flatpak, snap, app image), no politics here, let you decide what you want.
2. It has a custom, built-in system of handling those times when people try installing Windows type programs (.exe or .msi) by prompting a recommended Linux alternative app to the one you're trying to install (cross referencing a curated database); or let you choose to continue with an install, where it will setup a Windows compatibility layer for it (container like Wine). Truly, as painless as it can be. This feature alone makes this distro a Godsend and S-tier for beginners and less tech-savvy in general, but really just for anyone that simply has little Linux experience.
3. Extremely polished right out of the box, more so than Mint / Ubuntu, it's a heavily tuned Gnome environment highly tweaked to resemble Windows and its features, from right click context menu, to menu, to task bar, to that polished look and feel of Windows 10, no need to customize anything here. Perfect for people who just want to choose a dark / light theme, an accent colour, and just start flying.
4. Extremely efficient on resources. Their tweaks of Gnome got this to run very lean and efficient, surprisingly so, making this a great choice even on older, typically less capable hardware.
5. Amazing driver compatability. I've personally seen it pickup a printer and a couple wifi cards that Linux Mint couldn't. Not sure how they package their drivers exactly here but it appears to be better (subjective opinion based on my experience)
Cons:
None. I haven't run into any yet. I admittedly haven't used Zorin for the latest high performance gaming or using the latest gen graphics cards, which there are better distros for, so I can't comment there. For everything else, it's been flawless.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-05-31
Votes: 39
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I've been using ZorinOS for a little over a year now, and it's been an incredible experience. There are naturally a few bugs that need to be ironed out, but the OS is extremely stable and easy to use. I ended up buying the pro version just to support the continued development, but most people can make due with the free versions. I actually really like the paid themes that you get with the free version, especially the classic windows style. This distro is perfect for any average user looking to switch from Windows, since it will take very little effort to navigate the transition. The official forum is also a great place to find help with any issues you may be having. There are a lot of great people on there that are willing to walk you though it step by step.
There are really only a few things I wish the devs would fix in an upcoming release.
#1. The desktop icons can behave erratically, and end up shifting out of place for no reason. This is especially noticeable when you use your own icons to replace the stock icons, but I think it happens either way. This forces you to choose the "Keep Arranged" function, but it puts the icons out of order from what I want.
#2. I often run into issues with my secondary internal harddrive not auto-mounting on startup. I've tried multiple workarounds, but the problem persists. This may not be a issue with most users, but I still find it to be a problem with my system.
That's literally it. I actually don't really have any other problems with it beyond that. It's an amazing distro!!
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-05-29
Votes: 7
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Hello word
Since the windows support for my old laptop with WIN 10 will no longer exist, I wanted to switch to Linux
I tried in between various distro but Zorin 17.3 convinced me,
easy installation, no resous eaters, good windows program integration, hardware detection and many more.
It's been my turn for 2 months and I'm still satisfied today.
Even if with exotic names, there is a lot of software offered with simple install and uninstall rutine.
I still have a lot to learn but stay with the Zorin.
Good work people,
Thank you
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-05-27
Votes: 9
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Currently using Zorin OS 17.3 Pro and it works a treat on my laptop! Had to use Ethernet during the installation but it picked up my WiFi 7 card right after install.
Good Linux Distro for beginners and for advanced users alike.
Zorin Connect Works amazingly and really helps with managing notifications.
Flatpak installed out of the box which means every application I wanted was available out of the box.
I use FL Studio all the time and most Distros I tried it on either ran it slowly or had graphical glitches or scaling issues through wine but it works perfectly with the setup exe from the FL Studio website.
10/10. Would highly recommend.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-05-21
Votes: 2
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Zorin 17,3is an absolute gem for anyone looking for a reliable, user-friendly, and efficient Linux distribution. From the moment you boot up, you’ll notice how smooth and intuitive the interface is. The user interface, particularly with the xfce desktop environment, is intuitive and familiar, especially for those transitioning from Windows. It strikes a balance between modern aesthetics and traditional usability, offering a comfortable and efficient workflow. Mint comes with a good selection of pre-installed software, covering most common needs such as office productivity, media playback, and web browsing. This reduces the need to immediately search for and install essential applications
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-05-19
Votes: 9
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I'm currently using Zorin 17.2 regular version. Have not tried 17.3 yet. Zorin is a great desktop environment. After using MX LINUX for many years, Zorin works great with the programs I'm using....devede, dosbox, geany, arduino. After trying the latest Ubuntu distribution, I went back to Zorin. Ubuntu looks great, and works with most of the programs I'm using but many little things I did'nt like about it drove me back to Zorin. Keep up the good work Zorin Team. Would like to see the pro version for free but understand your situation on that. The regular Zorin is a great distribution as well. I have the pro version, which has additional desktops but wanted to install a clean version and I am very satisfied with what I have now. Put the Pro version on USB just in case I ever have to re install.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-05-19
Votes: 3
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I used to use Debian and Linux Mint. Both of these distros are great but I find Zorin just very convenient reliable and so easy to use. The distro looks nice but it also has Gnome workflow which I love. I purchased the Pro version just to contribute to the project but I don't use one of the pro destop skins. I just use the first choice which is a Windows like skin just rearranged a bit so it resembles Chrome OS with the tool bar at the top of the screen. One of the big differences is Zorin's updates. This distro is so easy to update, there's nothing to think about it just updates. This distro is well polished and works absolutely great, it is usually seen as a beginners distro. I'm no beginner and I have used a lot of distros in the past and Zorin got so much of my attention I purchased the Pro.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-05-17
Votes: 1
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I've had some problems with Zorin OS, but other than that, my experience is great. The problem I faced is that I was having quality issues with some of the apps I downloaded like "pycharm, vscode, discord" but I solved them all, if you don't want to deal with that you can install linuxmint for warranty. Of course, the solution is simple to solve, I solved it when I went and forced the application to work from the terminal from wayland. It has a better quality than Win11, your desktop looks more beautiful and better quality, it is more fluent, but you may have problems with old hardware, it can be installed
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-05-13
Votes: 3
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I've been a faithful Zorin OS user for as long as i can remember. Throughout the years i have primarily been going back and forth between Windows 10/11 and Zorin OS. The only reason for this has been due to lack of software support for linux.
The last time i switched to Zorin was a bit over a year ago back in 2024. I've had some graphical issues, but were resolved with the amazing forum staff. They've helped me out on several occasions and have taught me so much.
With this past year on Zorin, I've been doing various types of tasks:
- Gaming
- Web and software development
- Server related tasks
1) Gaming
I am 27 years old and don't play video games as much as i used to do. Most games are working just as efficient as they do on Windows, thanks to the compability layer provided by Steam. There's this racing simulator from 2002 that i still play, it is strictly a windows game with no linux support at all. All i had to do was add it to steam as a non-steam game and run it with Proton. Runs just as well as it does on Windows.
2) Web and software development
Web development is done just as well as it is on windows, no difference there. Software development wise, its been tough to get into. I've used Visual Studio for as long as i can remember, but there's absolutely no support for it on linux. After some thorough research; I found out about IntelliJ Rider which was originally a paid piece of software, but i managed to get a year of usage for free as i use it for personal use. I've been using that for about a year now, its got its set of issues but works pretty well.
3) Server related tasks
I built a home server last year to host video game servers and various other things. Since that one also runs linux, I'm able to connect to it with such ease.
All in all, i am very happy with this OS and have distrohopped for so long. After this last time i switched to Zorin, i haven't really had a need to try something else, i truly believe that Zorin is the closest thing to Windows - i feel its not lacking a whole lot, and offers a lot more than windows ever can. Its truly one of the better operating systems within the world of Linux.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-05-09
Votes: 12
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I switched from Linux Mint to Zorin because I don't like Cinnamon, Mate and XFCE. Actually I am not a friend of gnome either, but Zorin has managed the clean balancing act between KDE and Gnome. The system is absolutely stable and smooth. No hangs or stuttering when working or playing. Nvidia drivers can be integrated without any problems
(what a struggle I had with Fedora) and work flawlessly. The interface also looks super minimalistic and tidy, simply a dream, the good thing is that everything is recognized right away and cleanly integrated into the system, for those switching from Windows, ZORIN is the ideal Linux in my opinion. Many thanks to the developers and thumbs up.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-05-08
Votes: 3
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Well as an experiment I swapped Linux Mint OS for for Zorin 17.3 .. Installation was effortless and I liked the layout of this OS. One thing though was that I had to tackle the bluetooth settings as it was not finding my M130 Bluetooth mouse .. I researched and had to install a Blueman package in terminal.. I am using a KinivoBTD400 usb driver ... My laptop is a dated Compaq Presario CQ56 .. which has been infested by me with various distros over the years but Zorin floats my boat so to speak and I like it.
There are many interesting apps all accessible some dated as well but quirky..as a computer user I recommend this OS for persons switching Windows Pros.. ease on installation and colour.and general layout Cons I suppose the bluetooth pairing and perhaps lack of availble desktop screen layouts good luck all
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-05-02
Votes: 3
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When I was looking for a Windows 10 replacement for my two laptops and two desktop PCs, each between 10 and 15 years old, in January 2025. I also tried Linux Mint and MX Linux, among other things, but I ultimately settled on Zorin OS Core 17.2. Since my hardware wasn't up-to-date and no one in the family played games, gaming wasn't a primary focus.
The most important thing in choosing Zorin OS 17.2 Core was that everything could be easily controlled by everyone via a graphical interface, as is usual with other operating systems. I know the command line and can handle it, but if I want to replace Windows, Linux has to offer that as well.
In Zorin OS, I've been able to configure all the settings I wanted via the graphical interface so far, and updates via the software app or update management have been performed automatically without any problems. The update from 17.2 to 17.3 also went through without any problems, and the system is running very stable.
Even the Nvidia drivers for my GeForce GT 1030 were automatically updated via the update from 550.120 to 550.144. Zorin OS really does a great job.
For those interested in what hardware Zorin runs on:
Two desktop PCs are AMD FX6300+ - ASRock 970Extreme4 AM3+ motherboard - Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 2GB - Samsung 860EVO SSD 500GB - 2 x 1 TB Samsung SATA3 HDDs for software RAID 1 - 16GB DDR3 RAM.
A PC is connected to the 47" Toshiba TV via HDMI as a media PC at full resolution.
The desktop has been switched to GNOME Wayland, and the systems run stably and smoothly. I don't use virtual machines on the systems because I have a separate Windows 11 mini PC for software that only supports Windows.
In terms of desktop design and usability, the women in the family prefer Zorin OS, so we'll stick with Zorin.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-05-01
Votes: 6
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Realistically I have used A LOT of Linux distros over the past 20 years. Zorin is insanely easy to use for beginners and power users alike. I've even tried the new Linspire and I would not recommend that to anyone due to some "things" the company behind it has done with regard to a lifetime license I purchased. Realistically if you're new to Linux and don't mind dropping 40 dollars, it comes with a plethora of software for every use case, can be set to look like any familiar OS out there, and everything is made as simple to use as possible. I would call this the "macOS" of Linux and a lot may find that term upsetting because I know many are not big on Apple. The reason I say what I do is it's a pick it up and use it distro. You don't need instruction on it. It's familiar and quite simple to use similar to what Apple strives for as far as ease of use and you can just pick it up and use it. Zorin is a joy to use and I have even put it on older computers that no longer handle any modern version of Windows too well and it works very well. It's versatile, easy, and 40 dollars really gets you a lot of great stuff. I love it and recommend it to all. I call myself highly experienced but am no Linux guru or some super power user.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-04-30
Votes: 2
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I'm new to Linux and decided to go with Zorin as opposed to Linux Mint due to the look and feel of it. I am very pleased with the transition from windows as it is almost no difference. With Android and Apple phone popularity in the last decade, it makes Linux that much more relatable. Zorin is very out of the box and I don't have to figure much out with it. I am having issues getting my Nvidia card to be the default GPU and its frustrating on my old computer, however I don't believe this is as much of a Zorin issue as it is more of a Linux issue.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 7
Date: 2025-04-27
Votes: 0
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I've been using Zorin 17.3 for 1 month, and even though it's a nice OS, I was using the Gnome version, and I've found it sluggish. I know I'm using a mechanical HDD, but I'm using the same type of HDD with MX Linux without losing the speed. Not only that, I do have a very fast computer with AMD Ryzen 5800 and 32 gigs of ram. It's fast loading, but that's all. It's a pain to configure the desktop to my liking. I like XFCE far better than Gnome. They'll do away with XFCE in a couple of years. So today I ditched it and went back to MX Linux.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-04-18
Votes: 17
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Zorin OS is a fantastic operating system that delivers a polished, user-friendly experience out of the box. It offers excellent support for everything I’ve used it for, from day-to-day tasks to more niche software needs. The interface is clean, modern, and welcoming, especially for users coming from Windows or those who are newer to Linux. It strikes a nice balance between being beginner-friendly and powerful enough for more advanced users to customize if they want.
One of Zorin OS’s standout features is its built-in support for running Windows applications through tools like Wine, which are pre-installed in certain editions. This can be a huge plus for users who rely on specific Windows-only programs but want to enjoy the benefits of a Linux-based system.
In terms of hardware, I’ve mostly run it on machines with at least a second-gen Intel i5, and it performs reliably and smoothly. While it’s not quite as lightweight as something like Q4OS or other distros designed specifically for legacy hardware, Zorin OS still holds up well on older systems, provided they meet a basic performance threshold.
Overall, Zorin OS is a great choice if you're looking for an accessible, reliable, and attractive Linux distribution that works well out of the box and can bridge the gap for users transitioning from Windows. For extremely old hardware, I’d recommend something even lighter like Q4OS, but for most users, Zorin OS is more than capable.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 1
Date: 2025-04-08
Votes: 0
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Zorin 17.3 ,this is the second time i have downloaded a distro to use on an Ivy Bridge PC,every time it won't output to an hdmi TV on a Nvidia graphics card,Zorin as Mint before doesn't work,i tried the safe graphics option,but it just got stuck in a checking the file system loop,very poor as it supposed to work on old hardware.
I use rufus as i have installed Windows 11 LTSC Enterprise the same way on another PC,guess what,that worked on a similar Ivy Bridge machine,so why is this a thing as Linux is supposed to work on outdated hardware,is it the nvidia card that's to blame?
Who knows,it just doesn't seem to want to output on my display,no signal so if i can't see what's going on it's no use to me.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-04-03
Votes: 35
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Best and most reliable distribution next to the Ubuntu based Linux Mint Cinnamon or LMDE version. I have been using LMDE for a few years trouble free and was also using Zorin’s 16 and 17 series concurrently for a few years but because I sold off some machines I kept using LMDE instead. By coincidence I had the itch recently to install Zorin again when 17.3 got released and I am glad I am back. Yes, LMDE does everything I want but Zorin is special too. It is beautiful, fast, reliable, and the theming is so consistent it is a joy to use. The key reasons I like Mint and Zorin is the upgrade tool to the next version. I prfer being closer to Debian only and why it prefer LMDE but Zorin makes using Ubuntua good experience like Mint does even though Zorin keeps Snaps available. I am dual booting both Zorin and LMDE and it’s a great experience. I prefer LMDE but I could lake Zoriin as a daily driver. It looks great and its fast. Some people might complain about their Ubuntu base being older but it has never been a negative despite my using Linux since 2019. I have used everything from Pop!_OS to Ubuntu to Fedora to Solus to Tuxedo OS to Manjaro to MX Linux. Ultramarine Linux is a great Fedora rendition but I don’t seem to get along with with Fedora at all. Manjaora was good but I am not fond of the constant updates. Solus was great but they had problems for a while but are back. Pop is super but has been stuck in development of the newer COSMIC for a couple of years. Tuxedo is fantastic but their updates are numerous. MX Linux is wonderful but KDE always has bugs and I don’t like Xfce or Fluxbox. Ubunutu is super but I always experience problems with their software store. Ubuntu MATE was a good substitute to regular Ubuntu but that led me to Mint and LMDE and I liked the Cinnamon desktop.along the way,I found that Zorin’s rendition of GNOME was better for me too. The Zorin team of two brothers does a fantastic job of making Zorin an easy to use distribution that works great for new Linux users. It makes Linux truly useful for all users making it practical for daily use in all types of use cases. It allows the user to get to work and use the computer system as needed not to work on the operating system for the sake of working on it. With Zorin, there is never any troubleshooting to find a printer or find a file or connect to a NAS or I find software to install from the software center. The developers have polished their distribution to work flawlessly and do it reliably as fast as possible while looking good. Great job Zorin team.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-04-01
Votes: 11
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Best and most reliable distribution next to the Ubuntu based Linux Mint Cinnamon or LMDE version. I have been using LMDE for a few years trouble free and was also using Zorin’s 16 and 17 series concurrently for a few years but because I sold off some machines I kept using LMDE instead. By coincidence I had the itch recently to install Zorin again when 17.3 got released and I am glad I am back. Yes, LMDE does everything I want but Zorin is special too. It is beautiful, fast, reliable, and the theming is so consistent it is a joy to use. The key reasons I like Mint and Zorin is the upgrade tool to the next version. I prfer being closer to Debian only and why it prefer LMDE but Zorin makes using Ubuntua good experience like Mint does even though Zorin keeps Snaps available. I am dual booting both Zorin and LMDE and it’s a great experience. I prefer LMDE but I could lake Zoriin as a daily driver. It looks great and its fast. Some people might complain about their Ubuntu base being older but it has never been a negative despite my using Linux since 2019. I have used everything from Pop!_OS to Ubuntu to Fedora to Solus to Tuxedo OS to Manjaro to MX Linux. Ultramarine Linux is a great Fedora rendition but I don’t seem to get along with with Fedora at all. Manjaora was good but I am not fond of the constant updates. Solus was great but they had problems for a while but are back. Pop is super but has been stuck in development of the newer COSMIC for a couple of years. Tuxedo is fantastic but their updates are numerous. MX Linux is wonderful but KDE always has bugs and I don’t like Xfce or Fluxbox. Ubunutu is super but I always experience problems with their software store. Ubuntu MATE was a good substitute to regular Ubuntu but that led me to Mint and LMDE and I liked the Cinnamon desktop.along the way,I found that Zorin’s rendition of GNOME was better for me too. The Zorin team of two brothers does a fantastic job of making Zorin an easy to use distribution that works great for new Linux users. It makes Linux truly useful for all users making it practical for daily use in all types of use cases. It allows the user to get to work and use the computer system as needed not to work on the operating system for the sake of working on it. With Zorin, there is never any troubleshooting to find a printer or find a file or connect to a NAS or I find software to install from the software center. The developers have polished their distribution to work flawlessly and do it reliably as fast as possible while looking good. Great job Zorin team.
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Version: 17.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-03-27
Votes: 12
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I've been distrohopping for a few years now and I've been able to use Zorin OS Pro as a daily driver for about a year now.
The only bug/issue I've ran into is a freeze, but this was caused by the activities window. I just disabled that and it works nicely.
Zorin scores pretty good on all aspects. I game on it, i code on it, i do banking on it and everything just works. There isn't a need to faff around with commands for absolutely everything, but for some things i do prefer to do so.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the Zorin team has to offer.
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-03-22
Votes: 5
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I've been using Zorin OS (Core) for just over a year now. I bought a used Thinkpad (2012?) as a kind of emergency interim computer after frustration with the new Mac mini which was supposed to replace the old one.
A year later, I have learned so much about the terminal and bash, but the graphical interface is there too when I need it.
Opera browser is blazingly fast.
Old Thinkpads and Zorin are a winning combination. This "interim" computer is what I'm on most often.
The only reason it's not 10/10 is that I couldn't get backups to Google Drive to work. In fact, the only backups I was able to make were on the same drive being backed up. That of course was useless when I inadvertently deleted the wrong partition using Gnome Disks. (I did have cloud backups done by hand, i.e. without backup software).
I'm glad the accidental deletion happened. I tried Bodhi Linux which has a good reputation. It didn't fit the screen well and I never did find Wi-Fi. Sent me right back to Zorin, where I'm happy. (i've also tried Puppy Linux's Bookworm Pup on another computer and it worked fine. Setup including wifi were a breeze).
Looking forward to replacing the ancient hard drive with a solid state one and continuing on with Zorin.
🏶
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-03-15
Votes: 12
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I used ZorinOs for a few months without any problems. All my peripherals (phone, scanner, printer) work right away. ZorinOs is stable, fast and looks good. It is also easy to configure. Icons and themes are easy to change. The website has good and detailed instructions. I stopped using ZorinOs due to a small and stupid problem. It is not a fault of the distribution but of gnome. I have a lot of music and photos on an external hard drive. When I make backups, ZorinOs shows a small icon with a red progress bar, but it does not show how much has been copied and how much is left. That is why I used Nemo in addition to Nautilus. However, I found this a bit frustrating and switched to another distribution. For this reason, I only give it a 9/10.
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-03-12
Votes: 18
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This review is based on both the 16.3 pro and the 17.2 core so please bare in mind.
16.3 pro
My first choice replacement operating system when faced with updating my Windows to 11. Installed and just functioned from day one. I did have a slight hiccup, but that was due to a off brand m.2 ssd (it wouldn't get corrected on either operating systems). Applications worked except for Wine. For some reason I couldn't get anything to load and I completely removed all instances.
When I upgraded my Windows laptop I got hit with a major slowdown. My system was running 30 instances of scvhost from the direct update from Microsoft. It became unbearable after the first day that I looked for an alternative. After several distro hops I landed on Zorin. My laptop appeared to run smoothly again so I kept it as my current operating system.
The issues that arrived were from a knock off drive that was going critical. It kept showing a i/o error when closing any operating system after the swap - may have been contributed to the scvhost connected and bogging my system. I swapped out the drive and installed Zorin again. From start to finish it stayed consistent.
Now for wine I just couldn't get any older 32-bit programs to work no matter how many Wine installs I tried. I later switched to Bottles which failed to work either. I gave up on Wine, in general, and ran Linux only alternatives.
17.2 core
For this operating system I did try upgrading first. I ran my backup and the install broke the entire system. I later decided to do a fresh install of core and all is well.
The upgrade was pro to pro that didn't work as expected. Upon first boot it crashed. The second attempt worked, but refused to shut down - it stayed on the desktop and I had to do a hard shutdown. Then I tried a new install with no luck so I used core instead. That version installed without a hitch and it's my current operating system.
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Version: 16.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-03-08
Votes: 5
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I have been testing out a few distros recently due to 16.3 coming to end of life next month.. however this is the only distro that ticks all my boxes, even windows wont play age of empire 2 game yet this does. Bluestar linux refused to connect to my bluetooth earbuds . I have got three operating systems including zorin 16.3 on my lenovo laptop. Looking forward to any feed back on what will happen in april this year. Unless someone can come up with a work round for zorin17 which will install the game but wont run.
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-03-05
Votes: 5
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Beautiful user interface, stable and fully featured. Has a mac feel, but the gnome influence makes it truly unique. Runs smooth on 7 year old thinkpad hardware too (6th gen carbon X1). Love the built in software center (even though some apps are outdated) and the ability to use flatpaks and snaps. Battery life is decent at 7-8 hours. Everything works out of the box so hassle free on thinkpads. Suggest that you buy the pro version to support the devs so future revisions can be rolled out. I've tried many distros and keep coming back to this one. It rocks!
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-02-27
Votes: 9
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Perfect Windows alt. Everything works out of the box, not too much cli. Clean interface and low resource-usage. Have been using it for 7 months+ and has been the best intro into Linux.
I even liked it so much that I bought the ZorinOS Pro to support the devs. Never feel obliged to pay for FOSS and ZorinOS never shoves their Pro version into your face! But certainly do support projects that you enjoy and use daily.
If online gaming wasn't a problem on Linux then I would dump the dualboot and go full Zorin.
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-02-13
Votes: 23
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hey folks, i just had to share my experience with zorin os because honestly, it's been a game-changer for me. after distro-hopping between arch, mint, and fedora for quite a while, i finally found my perfect match.
let me tell you, as someone who's been through the linux rollercoaster, zorin os just hits different. everything - and i mean everything - works right out of the box. no more endless terminal commands or hunting down solutions on random forums at 3 am (we've all been there, right?).
the thing that really blew me away was how smoothly it handles my nvidia gpu. i'm running the beta drivers (570.86.16) with dlss 4, and it's butter smooth. like, zero hiccups, no screen tearing, none of that usual nvidia-on-linux drama we're all too familiar with. gaming on this thing is just chef's kiss.
what really gets me is how polished everything feels. coming from arch (yeah, i was one of those guys), mint, and fedora, i wasn't expecting to be this impressed. but zorin just… works? it's weird to say that about a linux distro, but it's true. the interface is clean, updates don't break things, and i haven't had to google a single error message since installation (that's a first!).
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-02-09
Votes: 8
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This is a great distribution!
I use this on my main computer, as an actual operating system. I also tried others e.g. Pop!_OS and Linux Mint, but ZorinOS is better.
It's a shame that this is also branded as being like windows, not true this is 100 times better!
Sure it's an easy transition from windows, I don't doubt, but yes this is good enough for such an old beard who has been using Linux for several decades! e.g. package directly Nvidia graphics card drivers + really neat and easy!
The only thing that dropped a point, is at the installation stage, the disk partitioning control, if you choose the partitioning yourself. No problem for a first timer, as you can choose e.g. the whole disk to install on, instead of windows :)
Try it and enjoy!
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-02-02
Votes: 11
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I use every distro you can imagen. ( Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, Fedora, Open Suse, Manjaro, Endevaour Os, Pop Os, Solus, ... )
But Zorin Os 17.2 is very excellent and best.
This distro is stable like a rock, and i can use it for daily use systems and for my programming and software engineering tasks.
Also i run windows games with wine and Zorin run perefectly.
I recommend to you to givr chance to this distro and 1 month use it for see how is perefect.
Best wishes for Zorin Team,
I love Zorin Os From Iran.
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-01-27
Votes: 10
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Switched from Windows 10 to Zorin OS 17 in spring -24 and have found the switch to Linux suprisingly easy. That being said I did have some experience from handling Linux using the CLI from earlier, handling Rasperry Pi's and similar.
Zorin OS ver 17.2 is a quite polished product I'd say. Very rarely do I bump into bugs. Also, have to say I really appreciate little things such as the start menu button (that makes me feel at home after using Windows for 20+ years..).
Also, which I find somewhat surpring since it is a nice looking OS, it is really fast! Both startup and general handling.
Can recommend it!
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-01-22
Votes: 7
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this is a best version coming withe visual effects , more stability , More compatible
ilike personally zorin os With its smoothness and ease
It is a better option for beginners.
In this exact version, more effects and more stability have been added to attract more users. This is a better option and I see it as a great system as I personally use it. It is smooth and powerful as it works with the Ubuntu distribution.
I have tested this distribution on a number of computers and it has achieved good stability even with weak computers.
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-01-19
Votes: 1
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Zorin OS 17.2 is an exceptional release that continues to build on the solid foundation laid by its predecessors while delivering a polished, intuitive, and powerful experience for users of all types. This operating system is a standout choice for those seeking a modern, user-friendly alternative to traditional platforms like Windows and macOS. One of the most remarkable aspects of Zorin OS 17.2 is its visual appeal. The redesigned Zorin Desktop is stunning, with a clean and modern interface that strikes a perfect balance between familiarity and innovation. Whether you're a seasoned Linux user or someone making the switch from another OS, the layout is intuitive and customizable to suit your preferences. The new "Zorin Appearance" tool allows for seamless switching between desktop layouts, including layouts that mimic Windows and macOS, making the transition incredibly smooth for new users.
Under the hood, Zorin OS 17.2 shines in performance. It is based on Ubuntu, which means it benefits from a robust and reliable software ecosystem. The system is fast, efficient, and lightweight, even on older hardware, offering a snappy experience that rivals many other distributions. Software installation and updates are straightforward, thanks to the built-in support for the software center and easy access to popular applications. Zorin OS also stands out for its strong focus on security and privacy. The integrated firewall, alongside regular security updates, ensures that your data remains protected, and its support for Linux-based security tools adds an extra layer of peace of mind. It is visually stunning, fast, feature-rich, and user-friendly, making it an excellent choice for anyone seeking a reliable and modern Linux distribution. Whether you're new to Linux or an experienced user, Zorin OS 17.2 offers an outstanding experience that is hard to beat. Im recommending it for Ubuntu 22 users
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-01-18
Votes: 1
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Zorin OS has consistently impressed as a user-friendly and polished Linux distribution, and version 17.2 elevates that reputation to new heights. This isn't just another Linux distro; it's a carefully crafted operating system designed with both newcomers and experienced users in mind, earning a well-deserved 10/10 rating.
From the moment you boot the live environment, Zorin OS 17.2 exudes elegance and simplicity. The desktop environment, based on GNOME, is clean, intuitive, and strikingly similar to Windows, making it an ideal choice for those migrating from Microsoft's ecosystem. The inclusion of the Zorin Appearance app is a stroke of genius, allowing users to effortlessly switch between desktop layouts resembling Windows 7, Windows 10, macOS, and even Ubuntu, catering to individual preferences and ensuring a comfortable transition.
Beyond its aesthetic appeal, Zorin OS 17.2 boasts impressive performance and stability. It's built upon Ubuntu, inheriting its robust foundation and vast software repositories. This means access to a wealth of applications through the Software store, including popular choices like LibreOffice, Firefox, and more. The inclusion of Wine and PlayOnLinux further expands software compatibility, enabling users to run many Windows applications seamlessly.
What truly sets Zorin OS 17.2 apart is its attention to detail and user experience. The developers have meticulously refined every aspect of the system, from the streamlined installation process to the intuitive menu structure. The pre-installed applications are carefully curated to provide a complete out-of-the-box experience, covering everything from office productivity to multimedia consumption. Furthermore, the system is remarkably stable, providing a smooth and reliable computing experience.
In conclusion, Zorin OS 17.2 is a triumph in Linux desktop design. It's a perfect blend of beauty, functionality, and user-friendliness. Whether you're a seasoned Linux user or someone taking their first steps into the open-source world, Zorin OS 17.2 is an exceptional choice that deserves a perfect score. It's a testament to what a Linux distribution can achieve when user experience is prioritized, making it a true 10/10 operating system.
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-01-15
Votes: 2
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As Windows 10 support is ending this year, probably some of my friends are going to ask me for the best Linux distro recommendation. As I haven't been a Zorin OS user before, I decided to take it for a spin on a test machine.
If you ask me, it feels indeed like an old Windows 7/10 desktop, but much more modern and elegant. Memory usage is also comparable to Windows, thanks to GNOME desktop environment which makes it quite heavy on resources.
Default application choice on the Core variant is decent, but if one wants to expand it, there are a lot of options in the software store. The OS supports Flatpaks and Snaps out of the box and there is also Windows app support installable as well.
What I don't like, however, is that it is based on an older Ubuntu base – 22.04 which is nearly 3 years old.
---
Overall, it might stick to the non-techie Windows user, who wants either good appearance or Windows app support out of the box. But bear in mind it's not for under-powered machines (Lite edition has been discontinued) and for the more technical users Mint might be somewhat better.
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-01-09
Votes: 0
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The latest version of Zorin OS is the first linux distro I feel is worthy of replacing windows for the typical windows user. I've tinkered with Linux distros for over five years now (even an older version of Zorin) , and had yet to find a suitable replacement for windows, until now. What makes Zorin OS great is 1) Reliability - very robust, even when a program hangs, you can generally close the window/program easily.. doesn't complain just keeps going. 2) Intuitive - Similar to windows, but without the annoying spyware, bloatware, or forcing you into Microsoft programs & searches. 3) Was the only distro out of all the ones that I tried, including the latest Linux Mint- Cinnamon, that I actually wanted to keep installed on my machine. 4) Fast & Responsive, 5) Support by Zorin OS, and based off of Ubuntu,so there is wide support & software availability. 6) Works the best out of the box (in my opinion, as a linux amateur migrating from Windows, and as someone who tried over 10 of the most popular distros on distrowatch). 6) beautiful - when set to dark mode with the default night mountain background. Just an absolutely stunning OS. I also changed the icons to "Hicolor", under theme, which makes my icons look even better.
As mentioned earlier, I have tried many other distros, including the Latest Linux Mint - Cinnamon, that everyone says is so great, but Linux Mint is not nearly as responsive, nor does it look as nice as Zorin in dark mode. There were several occasions I tried to open the software app in Linux Mint, and it just hung there, and I couldn't close the program easily... kind of like windows lol. Zoron, however simply just keeps going, and doesn't behave buggy in its everyday usage. Doesn't have a bunch of screen flickering, or does it leave you wondering "what was that?" "what just happened?" You know the drill with a lot of these distros. I love Zorin so far. I have installed it on 4 (FOUR) laptops (about 3-5 years old -3 intel machines, one amd ryzen, one of the intel machines has a dedicated gpu gtx 1650 ) The more I use it, the more I love it.
My only complaint is, and it's extremely minor, I wish they would update their logo to something a little different.. the current one just doesn't do it for me.. hexagon with Z? Probably a simple "Zorin" rectangle in their current font would be better. Anyway, the only nagging little flaw I see, but related to appearance, and a subjective personal preference.
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-12-28
Votes: 1
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I've tried a lot of distros over the years from Ubuntu through Solus, Mint, Elementary, Lubuntu, and LMDE6. Ubuntu was just crashing on me left, right, center. I didn't like the look of Linux Mint on first install. I quickly removed it. A lot of them left me unsatisfied and frustrated till I tried Zorin 15. It went well. The similarities with Windows was great for a newbie like myself. I've been dual-booting it with Windows 11 for some months now. I had problems getting drivers for my Ugreen wifi adapter with the other distros, but Zorin detected it and I had no issues whatsoever.
I've tried the Core, Education, and Lite versions. I particularly liked the Education one because of the plethora of apps for my son to play and learn with.
I'm now using the 17.2. I like how it just works without having to touch the terminal. I also like the availability of Wine on it. It's very stable and my PC is working better with it than the windows 11 installed alongside it. It's snappy and hasn't crashed so far. Having and supporting flatpaks is also a plus.
The software app is kinda slow though. I just wish it would load a bit faster.
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-12-26
Votes: 59
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i am using Zorin and its perfect in every way!!! well done for this great distro!!!! so stable, light, fast and very easy to use for everyone special who were using windows this distro zorin is perfect and so easy and everything working so great its really perfect executed and also the hardware support everything works amazing. not boring at all its so simple, so easy. for desktop computer zorin is the best seriously and updates often and thats great so simple in every way, stable, secure, light and amazing so great using this distro zorin
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 9
Date: 2024-12-24
Votes: 7
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I've used a ton of different distros over the years, starting with Ubuntu, but also Mint, Mandrake, EndeavorOS, Elementary, and even Haiku, among countless others. But when I tried Zorin, the OS finally felt solid, not fragile. Everything worked as it should, and never felt like I'd have to wipe and reinstall at any moment. Zorin is now my recommendation to anyone looking to try Linux. It just feels the most polished and tightly fitted. There are a few nits, sure, but overall, Zorin is the most competitive desktop with MacOS that I've used. It's simply well executed.
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-12-12
Votes: 31
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The Zorin team has put together what I consider to be the perfect Linux desktop distro. I say that thinking about stability, outstanding hardware support, a beautiful desktop environment that can please users coming from Windows or MacOS, a lot of customization features built in with more available through installation of Gnome extensions, full support for Snaps, Flatpaks, and Deb packages, and more. If you just want to get your work done, and aren't interested in constantly tinkering with your system just to get it to run, Zorin OS is probably a good choice for you. I want to mention the Pro version, which I do pay for to support the project. You do get some additional features and a lot of additonal software pre-installed. Not that you could't get the software yourself, but a lot of the work is done for you. I use Ubuntu on three of my computers, but have Zorin OS 17.2 Pro on a six year-old Dell tower with an nVidia GTX 1060 card. Everything works great, even many of my Steam games (I don't do much gaming anymore, but I appreciate being able to play Bioshock and a few other games once in awhile). If there are any major pitfalls to Zorin, I haven't encountered them yet. Some people might find Zorin a little boring, I suppose, but again, this is an OS that simply gets out of your way and in an elegant and attractive way.
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 8
Date: 2024-10-25
Votes: 21
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I've been using Linux since the early 2000s and Zorin just reminds me of the commercial-grade Linux days of Xandros and Mandrake. Zorin is a distro that's a good fit for a small business or home office because of its focus on the desktop and availability of paid professional support (most paid support for Linux is only available on the server side, not consumer side). One downside is that it tends to be further behind in updates because of its Ubuntu LTS base, which can hurt hardware compatibility, but gives it more stability. That said, it was the perfect "office distro" to throw on my aging Microsoft Surface Go 2 device to give it new life.
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 9
Date: 2024-10-16
Votes: 52
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I have been using LINUX since 2007 and have always had older, dated laptops to work with. Zorin 17.1 is a great distro, and about the same as any distro running xfce desktop. I program in C language with an old DOS compiler, so I use DOSBOX for that purpose. MX LINUX was a bit easier to use because you could just click on a file in the file manager and it would open them with DOSBOX because they were .EXE files and I didn"t have do do anything more. Zorin is not quite as efficient in that respect, but I was able to work around the problem and it works fine. Linux Mint xfce is junk and I would not use it. The cinnimon edition is better but slow on older computers. Zorin is just as fast and looks great. The software manager is still a bit slow but much better than the MX LiNUX package manager. I will continue to use ZORIN 17.1. I have the Zorin Pro edition but use the 17.1 core edition because its not as bloated as the pro version and if I want to change the desktop, I'll just upload GNOME tweaks and change it. I don't have any plans on doing this as the Zorin core desktop is fine as is and I don't want to change.
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-09-23
Votes: 93
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The new version perfected again, on an already proven basis. Zorin Os suits me in all aspects of my operating system requirements. I really appreciate that the repository contains all the applications I'm used to from years of using Linux. In my subjective opinion, I can say that Zorin Os 17.2 is noticeably faster than the previous version. The appearance of the environment is purposeful for using this system, and I have nothing to complain about. I bought the PRO version, and I can say that it was not a wasted investment. Team ZorinOs is doing a great job, and I really appreciate that. Thanks.
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Version: 17.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-09-21
Votes: 12
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For those of you who needed the newer 6.8 kernel its here and working great. Stability is excellent and the overall user experience is excellent. Zorin continues to be a great choice for Windows users looking to get into Linux. Windows app compatibility is good and so far gaming has been a great experience. The appearance as well as the overall user interface makes it a joy to use. Im using the free Core version which I still believe to be the best version for most users. Its such an end user focused distro that its hard find things to complain about. Again those of you that moved away from Zorin because of the need for the 6.8 kernel, its here with 17.2 so why bother with Ubuntu?
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Version: 17.1
Rating: 4
Date: 2024-08-29
Votes: 0
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Trying out Zorin Pro Lite. Could not get bluetooth to work with speaker. Detected it but would not connect. Then it would not even detect the speaker. Will go back to Zorin (free). I was under impression that Zorin Pro Lite would use the gnome desktop but instead it uses the xfce desktop. I liked it but must have the bluetooth working. I tried rebooting a few times but with no luck. Seems like always some issue with linux distributions. MX linux was previous distro used and I used it for several years until I got bored with the xfce desktop.
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Version: 17.1
Rating: 9
Date: 2024-08-29
Votes: 22
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I previously posted about not being able to connect to my bluetooth speaker with Zorin Pro Lite. After a few more re boots I noticed that I did not select "trusted" when the device came up. My new problem was that the device was not even being listed but the reboot fixed that. Then I selected "trust" this device and then I was able to pair wth it. Previously, I never selected "trust" device, but instead just selected the connect device at the top menu and it would just work. Long story short, I was something I wasnt doing and not the fault of Zorin. I'll continue to use Zorin Pro (lite) because of Zorins work to improve on xfce. I am a previous user of MX Linux for several years. Have used Fedora (gnome, mate), Debian (gnome), Mint (cinnimon, mate), PopOs (2022 version).
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Version: 17.1
Rating: 8
Date: 2024-07-25
Votes: 2
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I've been using Zorin since 15.X and found it very nice to use, easy to look at, very stable and polished. However all this shiny-shiny and stability comes at a cost: 7.1 is still based on Ubuntu 22.04 and is already 2 years out of date with kernel 6.5. When I finally upgraded my home desktop to something more modern (Ryzen 7700X/RX 7900 XT) I found that I either had to force a kernel update to 6.8 and lose compatibility/stability or settle for abandoning any control over my GPU. Mind you the RX 7000 series has been available for close to two years so is nowhere near bleeding edge tech.
I settled for Ubuntu 24.04 and sadly said goodbye to Zorin after all these years. I'll miss all the lovely spit and polish but I love my gaming more. I'll certainly jump back to Zorin if they updated more frequently.
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Version: 17.1
Rating: 9
Date: 2024-07-22
Votes: 31
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Zorin laptop user here for 3 years. I started with 15.3. I installed Zorin on my wife's laptop also.
I do some distro hoping, but I came back to Zorin. Stable, bug-free, end-user oriented, clean design.
I tried fedora (and I still have fedora kde on my desk computer), manjaro, MX linux, Mint cinamon, ubuntu, elementary, kubuntu, tuxedo... I largely prefer KDE on desk computer, but touchpad gestures on Gnome on my laptop are essential.
Some cons ? It's definitly a boring distro... which is also a big pro !
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Version: 17.1
Rating: 9
Date: 2024-06-12
Votes: 50
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Zorin-OS-17.1-Core-64-bit-r1 installed on Lenovo ideapad slim1 14Anm7: I did some distro-hopping to find one, Zorin that worked well. I am more familiar with MX, or Mint but sensing the RTL wifi driver out-of-the-box only worked with Zorin, Ubuntu (and a few derivatives), Fedora, and a few other distros all of which had issues. The Zorin installation was easy, in dual Win-11 boot mode, sensing and overwriting a partition previously used for Linux. In the set up with a Brother laser printer Zorin auto-found and installed the drivers. I was a bit put off by the software repositories using Snap or Flathub, where I was used to installing from .deb files but about a dozen useful applications were found (or their equivalents) and easily installed. Zorin is fast and has a clean (lacks a few features) desktop.
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Version: 17.1
Rating: 1
Date: 2024-06-03
Votes: 0
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There is something wrong with the iso! then after the last step in the installation process the installation crashes. Have downloaded over three times and burned to a usb but with the same result. Note, I don't have this problem with other distros I've tested. I suspect that zorin is not fully compatible with nvidia cards, as most linux distros are not! For example, manjaro does not tolerate nvidia, many have had many strange results and crashes with that s´distro in the last year, gave up. Now I'm looking for a stable distro that is compatible with my nvidia 2060 card. Have win10 on the machine too, but have no problem with nvidia.
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Version: 17.1
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-05-24
Votes: 30
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I've been working with Linux Zorin for years without any problems. It is the most user-friendly Linux for me.
The installation is easy and I can install everything I need via software.
Zorin Connect sends notifications from the cell phone to the Linux PC.
Perfect. I don't need anything else anymore.
It also runs on my notebook.
The associated software is complete and especially.
Evolution as an email client is integrated and professional in terms of functionality.
The connection to a NAS server works perfectly.
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Latest Reviews
Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18-r3
Rating: 9
Date: 2026-02-05
Votes: 7
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Its very nice, I came from Windows. Zorin feels like home, just wish media thumbnails came included in the original package and that Pro Zorin gives a bit more features. I think Zorin has great potential for mass appeal overtime, Window OS days are numbered! I would be considered a casual and my eyes opened on how invasive windows is and it's very corcerning! Windows doesn't make me feel secure or stable esspically dealing with large amounts of data! I want my PC to be MY PERSONAL COMPUTER. Microsoft takes that appeal and feeling from me with all it's invasive over the top features! Thanks Linux / Zorin contrubuters! You guys are awesome!
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18-r3
Rating: 7
Date: 2026-02-04
Votes: 1
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I tried it on a laptop with decent hardware a 1335u Intel and 16 gb ram. It’s a ok Linux OS not exactly sure Brave is a good choice as the default browser. Many coming from Windows probably using Chrome. Although Brave builds on Chromium same as Chrome just more privacy oriented.
Zorin just feels like a mixed bag of Ubuntu, old school UI and trying to hard to impress Windows OS user converts. Much like a lot of distros the mix is more a recipe change than any real ingredient changes. It’s the real problem so many slightly changed recipes just to create yet another distribution. I can see why so many distro hop because nothing really clicks and you are always tempted to think the grass is always greener on another distribution.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18-r3
Rating: 9
Date: 2026-01-29
Votes: 4
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Zorin 18 offers smoothed eye-candy visuals in a tasty layout for curious users or Windows refugees. Coming over from Mint, this is a completely different flavor OS and not comparable as another Me Too Mint Fan Boy in a shiny package. Aside from the under hood nits and nats, or demanding benchmark gaming performance, it delivers 'there ya go' navigation and feel. Basically a user aimed delight that doesn't annoy me. The finest out of the box - stupid easy intuitive OS I've ever experienced. Zero learning curve.
Less OS depth and tools can be a plus for 'set it and forget it' types. This thing runs like a screaming banshee on reasonable hardware. Should you like simple and prefer not writing code to discover your printer, this pup rocks. It welcomes users not intimidates them.
I find the menus, colors, and fonts friendly, soft on the eyes, basically a pleasure to use. This thing is super easy to tweak and forgiving to restore from a snap-shot file or totally blow it away and reload. I've broken it several times and in every case Timeshift brought her back to happy as hoped. Window restore? Not so much.
So yeah, if you want less drama with a stupid easy intuitive desktop that doesn't look like blick, here ya go. I call it a Goldilocks OS. Not too Minty nor a Plasma Vegas showboat. It's just right. Put up a new Asus NUC mini PC for my 78 year old mother in law. She says it's the 'best computer she's ever had'. Zorin is a hit with but another market - retired folks. Why? See above -simple and initiative.
Z-Bros see markets like education not just doe-headed Windows converts. They're rolling out Internet based multi-machine remote admin control. That's a win for small business. This type of thinking is outside the box from normy distros. You'll see reviews saying the paid version of Zorin 18 Pro is just the Core release with additional free apps and a couple extra desktop layouts installed. Not so true. I see why the product separation. They're developing Pro with pro functions like the remote admin feature. So as the products mature, this will become more clear. The Core is awesome as is where reviews are correct. At this time you don't 'need' Pro. Can always upgrade the license later.
Noticed Elementary has a fee based only option to download. Thinking it's not unreasonable to have a revenue stream. If you're using and enjoying a product, it's fair to find a way to support them. Better supporting a couple brothers hammering out code producing something I like than handing money to Micro$oft now forcing an on-line account to install Win 11 Home Edition. They said no local Admin for you! I say fine, no sale for them.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18-r2
Rating: 9
Date: 2026-01-16
Votes: 0
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tl:dr A very impressive distro graphically and probably the one you want if you're coming from Windows to Linux and want the least hassle of converting.
The default desktop will remind you of Windows 10 or 11 and (if you're like me) you can pick other looks as well. If you want something more, feel free to buy the Pro version, which will give you added configuration styles and some other perqs, but the free Core version is almost identical, quite sufficient, and (again) free.
My only quibble is the default browser is no longer Firefox, but Brave. Brave works well for the most part -- aside from its long-term obsession with crypto and its new obsession with AI -- but it's backed by democracy-killer Peter Thiel, and was started by noted homophobe Brendan Eich, so if that kind of thing floats your boat go for it. Kind of gives me the ick, though. And, really, who needs yet another Chrome-based browser like Brave filling up the ecosystem?
No distro is perfect, but this one will probably give you the fewest issues if you're brand new to Linux, or even want to run a few Windows program via the Wine emulation package. Other distros to check out would include Mint, Pop_OS! (nice for coders and Denver-based -- go Broncos!), elementaryOS (looks kinda like a Mac), Ubuntu (the OG easy-to-use distro, but best on more recent hardware), and Fedora (if their RedHat/IBM connection doesn't put you off, this is a pretty cutting-edge distro that'll give you all the new stuff first).
Anyway, that's what I think. Could be wrong.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18-r2
Rating: 6
Date: 2026-01-13
Votes: 0
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tried 18 core (and other, older versions several times, too) and i'm not really amused.
the bugs are so heavy that i chose to use another distro. the whole desktop seems to hang sometimes without intense use of anything on my laptop. there are 3 monitors in my pc-setup and i had to deal with different "monitors.xml" files in order to get it work. and when it worked, only got black screen after login with just a mouse cursor visible. absolute horrible!
zorin often struggles with things that other distros manage without any problem and since a long time - how can that be in 2026?
but i have the feeling that many distros struggle in a similar way since wayland (and other bad things) are in use. it seems to throw distros and programmers back for several years. that's a very sad linux-development.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18-r2
Rating: 2
Date: 2026-01-12
Votes: 0
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Every time I try and burn a disk image using Brasero, it seems to have a different file manager from the GNOME one. It cannot find
my external SSD. Uninstalled Brasero, and installed XFBURN and the file manager it uses works fine. The Zorin FM seems to have a
problem too, requiring reboot to start working again. I'll pick a folder to go to and it won't do anything but lock up so I have to do a force quit then it seems to start working again. One thing I noticed, when it doesn't want to work, I'll usually get a blank screen in the FM with no files listed. I'll click on the sidebar to try and go to /home or any other folder and its completely locked up. As for the Brasero problem, prior to uninstalling it, I tried to re install but that did'nt help. I don't want to discourage people from using this distro as I still continue to use, but I don't want to sign up for anything just to report a bug. Its easier here. Sorry. Just now I clicked on the file manager to open and got the blank screen again. Forced it to quit, then tried re running it and it opened with the /home folder as it should.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18-r2
Rating: 2
Date: 2026-01-09
Votes: 0
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Revisiting Zorin after over a year due to all the hype. Unfortunately, this distro still has issues with my mouse cursor. Not touching the mouse, it seems to be drawn to the bottom center of the screen. Once there it moves rapidly about a centimeter on the bottom center of the screen.
This is the same issue I had with Zorin over a year ago. So for me, they can claim all the greatness, but it doesn't replace windows. For one, I never had this issue on Windows. Secondly, Windows has a slideshow. It's 2026 and to see a distro without a wallpaper slideshow is ridiculous. I can't use a distro without a slideshow besides the mouse (cursor) issue, that's a deal killer for me.
The Brave browser comes pre-installed. Which Zorin states they modified. I don't know what they did to it, but I am unable to install webapps through the browser. I guess they force people to use their webapp app. Which is sandboxed as I understand. So that's not entirely a bad thing. However, the webapp app didn't work right for me. So to discover that's the only way to install webapps is annoying.
Well if you like Zorin, good for you. But I can't use this garbage. Good luck to the devs.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 8.1
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-12-24
Votes: 42
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Definitely a great distro for refugees coming to the Linux world from the Windows 11 debacle. It can be made to look and feel Windows-like. It can run many Windows programs without a huge amount of tweaking. It looks gorgeous -- I'd rate it the most beautiful Linux of all, in fact (and I've tried dozens). It's solid and straightforward.
As for Core or Pro ($$) versions ... the former does it all for me. If you have extra cash and want to support development of Zorin (or get a few more desktop looks) by all means buy a license.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18-r2
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-12-22
Votes: 10
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I have been using Zorin on and off since it was Zorin 9. Then I bought the pro version of Zorin 16 and I have enjoyed it immensely. I have been a Linux user off and on since Red Hat 5.2 which should tell you how long I've been in the Linux system. Ubuntu and Mint have had my attention for a long time but Zorin does better with Bluetooth connections than most of them. It isn't perfect, not even Windoze can claim that but I enjoy using my computer much more with Linux than having to satisfy an OS that begs for an anti-virus program to run all of the time.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18-r2
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-12-21
Votes: 25
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I would really be embarrassed to find anything wrong with this distro. I've used Mint for more than 10 years now and was curious to see what zorin os would offer. I was impressed to find a system utterly polished, rapid and easy to customize as Mint was and still is. What I find more appealing for me is the interface and the fact that on the go Zorin offers different UI customization already very functional. But this is a personal natter, I bought the pro version even if I was conscious the base version was totally op. After using it for a few months, I choose to give de devs a financial feedback and appreciation of their work and professionalism.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18-r2
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-12-18
Votes: 13
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This is probably the best looking distro. Everything I tried worked: iPhone, printer, scanner. I used Zorin for two weeks and didn't notice a single bug. The Zorin brothers have managed to make the gnome desktop really great.
But why am I only giving it an eight? I don't like that the Brave browser is the default. I understand that Zorin is based on Ubuntu and therefore many programs are installed via snapd. For someone used to debian-based distributions, this is quite annoying. I would have liked that at least Firefox and Thunderbird could be installed via apt. I have previously used Evolution. There are problems restoring the backup and you have to press the Wait button many times. Maybe the problem is with the gnome desktop. I think Zorin is very suitable for a beginner Linux user.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-12-13
Votes: 4
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Core 18 has been a genuine alternative to a Windows machine. I can only echo the positive reviews that Zorin has garnered.
For my non technical family members, they were happily using it without issue in a matter of a few minutes. As long as their browser works, have access to Office 365, then they were satisfied. (Adding those products as web apps to the taskbar made it all seamless)
Now a couple of nitpicks:
Samba file sharing is broken in ver 18 (UPDATE: there is a new revision in the downloadable ISO with "r1" appended to the distro file. This might contain a fix). It cannot create standard Samba shares in the usual way and is a known bug with the kernal. It DOES read and locate network shares without issue. Just can't create its own. A niche problem, but a genuine one for heavily networked homes like mine
The Nautilus file management system is a little flaky. It will occassionally hang for no reason, has to be forced closed and then all is good again.
Top tier distro.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-11-30
Votes: 18
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This is probably the best looking distro. Everything I tried worked: iPhone, printer, scanner. I used Zorin for two weeks and didn't notice a single bug. The Zorin brothers have managed to make the gnome desktop really great.
But why am I only giving it an eight? I don't like that the Brave browser is the default. I understand that Zorin is based on Ubuntu and therefore many programs are installed via snapd. For someone used to debian-based distributions, this is quite annoying. I would have liked that at least Firefox and Thunderbird could be installed via apt. I have previously used Evolution. There are problems restoring the backup and you have to press the Wait button many times. Maybe the problem is with the gnome desktop. I think Zorin is very suitable for a beginner Linux user.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-11-29
Votes: 51
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I installed this on a AMD A10-7800 with dual graphics AMD R7 and 8GB of RAM. The Installation went through without problems. Had some screen flickering in Chromium though, which was solved by switching to X11 as default display protocol.
Zorin OS is a great alternative to Windows. It's over, M$! Finally, we are free!
It is beautifully designed, polished, works flawlessly, fast, predictable, installs necessary software in a few clicks, the search works brilliantly, it's just a joy to use!
Several Windows applications work without any customization needed, which is astonishing. The System installs the necessary tools for this automatically. I used Irfanview, which is directly available through the integrated Software App.
I want to encourage anybody frustrated especially of Win11 to come over and try it out. You'll be in love instantly.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-11-21
Votes: 45
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Over the past 20 years I have indulged in a number of linux distros, with my favorite daily drivers as MX Linux and Mint. I have tried Zorin off and on over the years but didn't really see that it was any better than either of the aforementioned. i purchased the "Pro" version some years ago, maybe around v12, or so; can't remember for sure in order to support what I considered a good distro, and I wanted to support them for the effort they bring to the broader linux community.
I recently inherited an iMac 19.1, which I decided to convert to linux. MX and Mint were not successful, mostly because the iMac 19.1 with a Cannon Lake processor was not supported very long by Intel, which I didn't know at first. I installed Zorin Core to see if they might have some kind of updated driver for the amdgpu, sound and wifi, After searching, troubleshooting and trying various things, I discovered that Zorin had a step-by-step process to help make this hardware work. I was expecting failure yet again, but low and behold, I got things working splendidly, Graphics are great with the support help I got on the Zorin site, so of course I bought the "pro" license, again to support their efforts. Added an external speaker and wifi TP-Link dongle and everything works very well
I've put this box and Zorin through it's paces this past week and I really can see the value add for this distro, Their support forum is helpful and to the point. The curated software works flawlessly, though I also added Synaptic because I'm so used to it.
I think this is a great distro for newbies, and those caught in the WinDoze 10 diaspora. Personally, I don't even understand why people even WANT to install Win 11. I bought a Dell laptop last spring and started to play around with Win 11, and it is atrocious, buggy spamware in my opinion, i don't know how people actually use it and can get anything done during the workday. I lasted about 2 weeks, trying to experiment with it, and instead of dual booting any more, I just deleted the Win 11 side and expanded the free space for Mint on that box. With Zorin working as well as it is, I just might be replacing that Mint.
I can find nothing that I want to do that Zorin can't handle well and elegantly. I highly recommend for anyone.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-11-19
Votes: 3
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I tried Zorin Core first to replace Win10. Good looking, limited customizing. Tried the tiling, but the tiles always overlapped. Gave up on tiling, I can do better with normal adjustment of windows. Since I had a Mozilla account which synchronizes Firefox and Thunderbird across all devices, I would have to replace Brave and Evolution. Doable, but not my 1st choice.
FWIW, I ended up with MX Linux (KDE) as my distro of choice (tried Zorin, Mint, Pop OS, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Studio). None of them did any better or worse at hardware recognition on my system. All failed to install or recognized 2 different USB wireless cards, and all initially struggled with my HP Laserjet 1020 on a USB port. Selecting the latest HP printer driver package in Windows solved the printer issue. On the wireless front, I had to give up and buy a PCIe wireless card from Think Penguin which worked out of the box in both Windows and Linux, no driver install needed.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-11-17
Votes: 16
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I've been using linux for 28 years on my desktop and laptop.
After all those years, I settled for smooth experience, stability, minimal cli need and the need for vast software selection.
Zorin is nice looking, stable distro. Its been my goto distro for the last 3 years. Shortcomings exist but all smoothed out with updates over time. It seems perfect.
I recommend it to all experienced and non experienced users. Specially if you are transitioning from windows. You wil feel at home with Zorin.
Cheers,
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-11-17
Votes: 15
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Once I found I couldn't update my "daily driver" PC to Win 11....I said, "It's finally time to switch to Linux full time". I was not disappointed and haven't looked back since. The only issue that I have had is that I have a couple Windows apps that wouldn't install via Wine/Bottles. But since they were not vital apps, I found a reasonable Linux alternative and moved on.
I have only been using it daily for 4 or 5 months. I have been impressed and haven't once thought of replacing the PC with Windows since I've started using it. Being a Linux enthusiast trying many different distros before deciding which one i would land on, Zorin just seemed to be the quickest and best laid out for my workflows and seemed the most intuitive to use immediately on a daily basis without a lot of "care and feeding".
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-11-14
Votes: 9
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I was given the older Macbook 12 from around 2016 era.
Not being an Apple fan I decided to experiment with linux on it.
if I broke it, who cares. Now the stats on the machine are good, 8 gig ram, 500 something hard drive.
I tried many of my current Linux distros on it with varying degrees of success from not installing to not starting to no keyboard operation etc etc.
I use Zorin 17 on an older machine and it works good so i put 18 onto the Macbook 12.
Every things seems to work even setting up remote monitor and getting it to respond to the Mac workings was not too bad.
The Mac has some really quirky habits but that is probably due to we only want apple on Mac.
I trust Zorin but not the Mac at this stage so I treat the machine as an auxiliary.
If Zorin 18 works this well on this little Mac it may well advance to a daily driver.
Keep up the good work Zorin team.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-11-14
Votes: 12
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Well first off, although its a damn good distro, and works extremely well on older computers, but version 18 pro does have a few quirks.
I originally used v17.3 pro, with zero problems. Version 18's installer though, can sometimes be a frustrating experience. I wanted to put this on an old desktop, with a Asus FM1 motherboard, with 4-core cpu and 8Gb memory. Should work ok I thought. NO.
I was using a Ventoy usb stick, with loads of other ISO's also on it, which always worked. Some people say don't use Rufus to put the ISO on the stick, or Ventoy, but it's always worked fine for me.
This time, on booting from the Ventoy stick, I got Zorin's 'live' desktop come up ok. Great, so lets install it using the desktop installer icon.
Started off ok, until the keyboard selection came up, and it hung. Tried this several times, always hung, probably due to some incompatibity.
Not wanting give up, I had a look at other people's experiences, so to save anybody having to hunt around the net, I'll put on here what I managed to discover, because I managed to eventually install it;
*First off, in the Bios/UEFI, DISABLE Secure boot, Fast boot, Windows boot (if it's there).
*Next boot up into Zorins 'live desktop'. Don't use the installer yet!.
* From the desktop, disable networking. Disconnect from the internet, that is any LAN and Wi-fi connections, or the installation may hang.
*Start the installation from the desktop icon, or menu. During the installation process, UNCHECK the boxes 'Download updates automatically' and 'install third-party software'.
By using these steps, I finally managed to get Zorin 18 Pro installed. Hope this works for you, as it did for me. *Be patient installing it, it does take a while.
P.S I had to uninstall the 'Brave' internet browser, as it didn't work properly for me. Installed Firefox, which works ok.
Sorry if this all a bit long-winded, but thought it might help.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-11-12
Votes: 13
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Perfection, I was using Linux Mint as My daily driver I liked it but some of of my Steam games would not start no matter what Proton version I used.
I downloaded and Installed Zorin In less than 15 Minutes and have not looked back, everything just works so well My games have more FPS than Mint and even Windows.
It is easy to use even My partner who is not very good with Tech can log in and use it with No problems.
This one is a keeper as My days Dual booting are over and Zorin has everything I need in Distro and OS.
I would recommend this to anybody who is starting the Journey with Linux from seasoned Win and Mac users to a person who has never used a computer before.
This Year and Next year will be Time for Linux to shine and shine bright.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-11-09
Votes: 7
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Always wanted to dump W***ows but every time I tried I hit road blocks. Downloaded Zorin today, installed on a HP laptop very quickly and it just worked. So easy to find my way around and to use with Linux apps. My computer has never been so quick (even when it was new). I was able to map all of my network drives / file sharing devices with ease.
As for being customizable, altering things to suit my eye sight and cognitive ability I was most impressed.
This is the first Distro I have not had to fumble around with. This is not to criticise other distros just that Zorin suits me extremely well.
Thankyou to all involved.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 6
Date: 2025-11-05
Votes: 1
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Has a few issues. Went back to Zorin 17.3 I was using the new Zorin 18 core desktop but had issues with the file manager and some other things that did not seem right. I like the extra desktops that Zorin Pro provides but had to switch back to the previous version because it was not working correctly. The file manager crashed several times, which was an immediate red flag for me. Not having the extra desktops was not an issue going to Zorin 18 core but with the issues it has, I had to re install 17.3 until v18 gets fixed.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-22
Votes: 42
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The newest Zorin OS release is marketed towards Windows refugees as Windows 10 reached its end of support.
I, being already an intermediate Linux user, couldn't really get comfortable with 17.3 - it had its glitches making it not really approachable to anyone who hasn't even touched Linux in their lives.
Does version 18 change it? Well, it has its strong points:
1. Their GNOME implementation is just superb; it resembles the traditional desktop metaphor most computer users are accustomed to, with the panel at the bottom of the screen, app launcher on the left side of the panel and system tray on the right. It doesn't differ from previous releases, but it makes the first experience smoother. Also, the app launcher looks similar to this of Windows 7, with the shortcuts to most needed desktop folders.
If one doesn't want to use default, Windows-like setup, they can choose one from 3 also available, or even more if they don't mind sparing some money. Theming also looks excellent - it looks sugary and flat, but colors have been reworked for the version 18 and light themes aren't as blinding as they used to be.
2. Web Apps are a concept borrowed from Mint. As I could see, not only a concept, but an entire app and management system. Not a bad thing, Mint team did a great job and their solution works flawlessly.
3. Software management works nice. Zorin supports all major packaging formats available for Debian/Ubuntu - both APT-specific and universal ones. I only wish DEBs were more prioritised, there isn't a graphical setting to change that, you have to do some terminal work instead (!).
4. Version 18 is far more optimized than 17.x series ever was. The system is more responsive, screen stopped flickering and tearing, no driver issues in general.
Ok, so if everything is so nice, why only 9 out of 10?
Well, Zorin Lite will stop bering developed. I mean, despite its name, it wasn't light at all - in fact it was one of the heaviest Xfce implementations - but let's be fair, GNOME might be problematic for some devices manufactured in Windows 7 era and Xfce, if correctly maintained, performs much, much better on less resources.
---
All in all, I get why Zorin developers promote it as the ultimate Linux distro for beginners.
Personally, having used 18 even since beta, I didn't have any issues with it - the desktop experience truly felt like Windows 10 with no telemetry and redundant processes running in the background.
But it's just my opinion, you might need to validate it yourself. From me, there goes a strong recommendation.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-18
Votes: 1
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I have been a Zorin OS user for about 7 years now. I like it because while it is not bleeding edge, it is not a slouch either. The user interface is a definite plus for people coming over from Windows, and the updates are demanding total desktop changes. 18 has minor tweaks as well as options for alternate desktops. Zorin Pro is for people who want the kitchen sink in Linux with many productivity apps bundled in. Zorin Core 18 is a good place to start if you don't need all the bloat and want to install only what you want.
I just wanted a "steady eddy" of releases for Linux, stable with no surprises or blow ups and Zorin seems to be working in this direction. I am not a super tweaker and install a zillion widgets to suit my fancy, I am more about personal and stable productivity.
The only demerit is that it still doesn't support certain apps under xWayland, while Linux Mint does.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-10-18
Votes: 3
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I have an old used laptop which is a Dell XPS, i used to run microsoft on that thing, and at one point they used to work for the end-user. it was nice. but like taking candy from a baby i guess customers aren't supposed to have nice things. we used to pay for the product /operating system and it would work for us. somehow they flipped that idea on its head and decided that we don't pay for the operating system kinda sorta, but that we instead work for them while they give us a "free" platform and in exchange that they get to pilfer our data and pillage control of the entire system.
MIRCOSOFT has turned into MACROSHAFT.
i like Zorin because zorin respects me and its easy to use. it reminds me of what microsoft programs use to be but better. it does what i tell it to and it doesn't get in the way. it also dont steal my data and shove AI crap down my throat. I tried manjaro after watching Linus attempt to use it but i was having some hiccups after installing it.
oh and one more thing, my laptop was a windows 7 when i bought it than i switched to windows 10 and is fast like new again because i put zorin on it for two weaks now.
The system colors are amazing. there not red/white/yellow but they should be because my laptop feels faster than the flash. zorin has my laptop zoomin like it took some velocity 9 and i'm super happy, so i guess the blue and white makes sense in that regard. even more appropriate when i notice the "star labs" ads on the side of this page.
if i have one thing to say to Team Zorin it would be please take my money, thank you so much and keep up the wonderful work! i know you guys are irish so i wish i could kiss you.
please forgive my grammer as english is not my first language. now if you don't mind i have an old tv show to catch up on. Gracias!
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-18
Votes: 6
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Had (and paid for) Zorin 17. After a few different distro's went back to 18, the Core now. Running this next to Win11 and Commodore, no probs. I use it for a lot of different things, gaming, programming, internet, music. So far every game on Steam works (with Proton). E-mail, whatsapp, facebook etc. all run great as well. To me Zorin always is one of the most reliable versions. Sometimes I almost forget I'm not in Windows, that must be good. All in all I sure recommend Zorin, Pro or Core. The pro has some more layouts and a lot of software installed but the software I can install myself so I only get what I want and need.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-18
Votes: 10
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I use the Zorin Lite version on several computers, namely a circa-2007 Acer Aspire 4736Z with a dual Pentium processor and 4GTB of RAM. This machine now runs like a practically new laptop with webpages, including heavy social media and YouTube videos snapping into place. I've also experimented with it on Atom processor netbooks; the only ones capable are those equipped with the dual-core N570 (i.e. the Acer Aspire One 13450). any thing less than that (the N455 and below) will run, but not acceptably so. However, the N570 with 2GB of RAM handles tasks with ease. Videos come up quickly and will play smoothly and cleanly. Zorin comes highly recommended!
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-10-17
Votes: 10
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I started getting interested in Linux in 2024. I tried several popular distributions such as Manjaro, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, and Zorin OS.
I installed each distribution on both my laptop and desktop PC, trying to evaluate the system’s performance for everyday office work and gaming.
Out of all these distributions, I chose Zorin OS.
Because:
- It has the most native packages from developers.
Nowadays, almost every program provides a .deb package.
Yes, I don’t like Snap or Flatpak.
- There’s at least some funding and an attempt to move toward commercial use.
They're integrating their distro into schools, selling it preinstalled on computers.
Why is this important? Because no one wants to work well and productively for free. And honestly, neither would I.
- The system works right out of the box.
Codecs are already installed, and the driver for my NVIDIA card can be set up during installation or with just a couple of clicks in the Software & Updates app.
Yes, I don’t want to install software using terminal commands, I don’t want to dig through forums and guides - I want everything ready from the start.
- Preinstalled interface layouts that can be changed with one click.
What I also like is that the Zorin OS team doesn’t just take GNOME extensions available in the GNOME Extensions store, they rework and optimize them for their system, improving performance and integration.
And yes, I bought Zorin OS Pro 17, and I’m satisfied with it.
Zorin is convenient, pleasant, and comfortable to use, and I don’t plan on switching to anything else.
I’ve noticed a trend in the Linux community - a constant search for new challenges and difficulties.
“Wow, I finally understand how this distro works - now I’m bored. Time to move on to Gentoo! I’ve got so much free time, and I want to spend all of it compiling stuff and I use arch btw!”
I use Linux as a tool for my daily tasks, and Zorin is the most convenient and comfortable system I’ve tried so far.
Here are the downsides I can point out:
- There are three different apps for updates. In my opinion, it could all be combined into one, like it’s done in Fedora
- The GNOME interface is heavier, since it’s not vanilla but customized
- Dependence on Ubuntu
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 18
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-16
Votes: 6
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A hard Freeze on an old Radeon 880G chipset (am3) Pc with brave browser, which was on windows 10, aside from that it was solid, was using about 1.6gb of ram out of 4gb and i like the look and feel of it although the flatpak version of firefox is not great (could not find the profile folder to import the firefox data from 10 dunno where the profile folder is with the flatpak version even though firefox claimed it was in the correct path it was not there, installed the zorin version and that cleared that up, profile folder was where it was intended to be /.mozilla) all in all a good experience aside from the hard freeze.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 16.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-10
Votes: 12
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I've been running Zorin OS for the past 2-3 years now. Other than a couple of mild software issues here and there, it has been absolutely enjoyable. I have also had a couple of critical moments where I either managed to completely screw up the operating system, or came especially close to it and was saved by boot repair, but that was my own fault. It's not perfect, though to be fair, I have yet to come across any distro that is. I have also been regularly using Windows 10 and Linux Mint simultaneously. Thanks to Microsoft and their recently abhorrent business practices, Linux (i.e., Zorin) will now become my daily driver and if you're new to exploring Linux distributions, and you've had it up to here with Microsoft (or Apple for that matter), then Zorin I couldn't recommend more highly! I love Linux Mint as well, but I have found Zorin to be a personal preference.
The only way I will ever continue to use Windows, is as a secondary boot drive for the sole purpose of playing certain games in the event that I can't get a specific title to run on my new installation of Linux. New, because I will be upgrading to version 18 in the next week or two.
Microsoft can suck it!
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-09
Votes: 3
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Really nice, Based on Ubuntu Jammy (22.04 LTS) so a bit out of date, Zorin 18 will be based on Ubuntu Noble (14.04 LTS) and should be way better.
Great for people who need to use both Windows and Linux as it wont ruin your muscle memory!
Super versatile, super functional.
Not a fan you have to pay for the pro version but I understand why, the devs need to feed their family.
Its a really smooth experience I just wish it defaulted to Firefox instead of brave.
All in all a good distro for most uses, nice for productivity!
Comes with Flatpak and Snap by default and adding Brew is easy!
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-10-08
Votes: 7
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One of the easiest and most adaptable Distros, with good support, regular updates, and solid build.
I have run it on everything from a 2012 2core i5 MacBook Pro to modern i7 systems, with 4GB to 32GB of RAM, with integrated GPU to 8GB discrete, and never had any issues, and have predictable performance across all systems--while it feels sluggish with 4GB of RAM (what doesn't?), it runs as smooth on 8GB with 2-core i5 as it does on an 8-core AMD with 16GB or 4-core, 8 thread with 32GB, always while pulling less resources than Windows 10 or 11.
I have used it for RAW photo editing, gaming, and general computer media use, and never found any lack.
I have even changed a laptop we use for a volunteer group from Windows 10 to Zorin 17, and so far, no one has had any difficulty in adapting to it.... I don't think some have even noticed the change of OS, just that it now runs a lot faster!
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-10-07
Votes: 0
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I use the Zorin Lite version on several computers, namely a circa-2007 Acer Aspire 4736Z with a dual Pentium processor and 4GTB of RAM. This machine now runs like a practically new laptop with webpages, including heavy social media and YouTube videos snapping into place. I've also experimented with it on Atom processor netbooks; the only ones capable are those equipped with the dual-core N570 (i.e. the Acer Aspire One 13450). any thing less than that (the N455 and below) will run, but not acceptably so. However, the N570 with 2GB of RAM handles tasks with ease. Videos come up quickly and will play smoothly and cleanly. Zorin comes highly recommended!
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-10-01
Votes: 17
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I bought a Pro licence in 2024 and used Zorin on a test laptop on and off for a year. Found the Zorin experience very positive.
My 4-year-old Windows 10 machine didn't "qualify" for Windows 11.
Really Microsoft ??
No need to add ewaste by buying a new machine. Switched to Zorin completely in August of 2025. My 4-year-old Ryzen 5 PC w 16 gigs of ram functions just fine.
Microsoft and the consumer PC industry are just too greedy.
Zorin has been great. I use it as my principal OS on my daily-driver PC.
Highly recommended. Updates are easy and my machine is very fast and stable.
I don't game. I use my machine for email, Web surfing, Youtube, etc
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-09-27
Votes: 11
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It is now my daily driver and just works. It works great on both old and newer hardware. It also has drivers for everything i threw at it. I especially like how you can tweak the look of the desktop multiple ways to be more pleasing to what you came from whether that is Windows or MacOS. The only knock I have is that I do wish the Steam integration was better with regards to Steam Play and the Proton layer for running games in linux. I have not had the best luck yet on my older systems getting Steam to work well. Lutris and Bottles did not fare much better for me either...
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 16.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-09-25
Votes: 0
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IT was not great but assuming it was my first Linux distro i used it for a while when i closed the lid of my X202 ASUS it showed a black and red screen my tetchy aunt fixed it but i restarted it then BOOM Operating system gone we had to Install windows 7 Back since it was my childhood os Over all it is good Linux operating system it had Firefox as a Brower and easy connectivity to the internet and a sudoku game And a very user friendly Home screen But if you want Apps or to download something You have to use the terminal Making it a os for both Informational technologists and People who need to switch to Linux But have no experience I have experience on Linux now
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-09-20
Votes: 2
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After quite a while of using Zorin I have tried few popular distros. None of them impressed me like Zorin. It's very stable, gets stable updates, one of the best looking distros. It simply works the way OS should work.
I have also tried to stick with some other distros, but none of them made me say "This is what I wanna use in long term".
No need to write a lot more, just that I won't be looking at another distro anymore.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-09-20
Votes: 8
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I have just spent the last few hours checking out Zorin 17.3 Core. And I'm about to tell you what I think, but first I want to say I appreciate all the effort being made at this time by all the Linux distro creators who are doing their best work to come up with alternatives for Windows. It's really quite impressive.
I've often tried Zorin but as often as I have tried, I found it unsettling. I'm not quite sure why I couldn't get comfortable, maybe it was because it required too many clicks to get where I needed to go, or maybe because things were in odd places, I'm not sure.
But I'm happy to report with version 17.3 I think it's a winner. I particularly like all the settings and configuration for the desktop. Most other distros I've tried in the past, provided very limited desktop layouts.
As much as I like it, I'm not going to install just yet because I first want to try something else. Zorin has another offering, which is Zorin 17.3 Education. I'm going to check this out, I've got kids it might be helpful.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-09-05
Votes: 37
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I'm testing ZorinOS for about two days not, installed bare metal on a lenovo ideapad 320. I can't believe how flawlessly it works... I mean even with linux mint i had some hurdles and frequently needing to open the terminal. Here things seem to just work... the keyboard with all special buttons, video playback... everything. Snaps and flatpacks are great... i'm glad zorin supports them. The graphic design is also very beautiful... i'm not much into visuals but i appreciate the polished look. I'll continue testing it, but if things go on like this, i might switch from windows 10 to Zorin as daily driver.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-08-23
Votes: 24
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I love Zorin OS! More modern and sleek than Linux Mint while keeping it's power. No bloating, open-source like true Linux and way faster, more reliable, and just better than Windows while also taking the old Windows desktops into a modern world with Zorin Appearance - no other distro can do that. The User Interface is superior to all the distros I can find. And I get all of this while not spending a penny with the Zorin OS Free Version. People can hate on Zorin all they want. Go ahead! But that 8.5 star average rating tells you everything you need to know.
Of course there is some minor issues. Sometimes the store can replace the progress bar while installing an application with the "Install Button". This happens especially while installing two apps at the same time. This isn't too big of an issue since the installation of the application completes but is still annoying. However the Zorin Group didn't make the software store and I don't think their code is causing this since I had the same issue on plain old Ubuntu. I'm pretty sure that Zorin OS 18 based off Ubuntu 24.04 will fix this.
Also sometimes a portion of the cursor in the dash glitches and stays on the dash. You have to move the cursor back to the dash for the pieces to sink up. Happens a lot but does not make the OS unusable. I'm sure will be fixed in Zorin OS 18 too!
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-08-20
Votes: 6
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I've been using Zorin for about a year now. Some bugs I've seen are selection tool on desktop locking up system, requiring restart. Screen capture / Screen recording feature is suppose to allow you to show the mouse as you record what is happening on the screen but that does not work. The mouse positions itself in the upper left side and changes from current size to default size without moving, when you move the mouse on the screen being recorded. Other than that, Zorin is very solid as an OS and I plan to keep using it. I am a supporter of the project, having purchased the pro version.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-08-14
Votes: 12
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Stable, wonderful and BEAUTIFUL. I loved this OS. I didn't have any problems with the installation. The customization is very good, and you have several desktop to choose. The default desktop is very good anyways.
From the beginning, you have an interesting amount of applications to start your journey in Zorin OS. Definitely is a very good option you can do!
They have a paid version, that is totally worth it! And of course it's a direct way to support the project (the project was born in Ireland).
Definitely I loved this operative system!
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 3
Date: 2025-08-09
Votes: 0
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Zorin OS is "like windows" in the head of some developer who hasn't used windows in 20 years but thinks this is what it would be like.
That being said, it's not so far off that windows users could not quickly learn to use it instead. With some patience and some googling.
"It's productive" ... so is basically every OS? Like what is that even supposed to mean? Anything can be productive so long as it doesn't Actively interfere with work.
Same with power plans... everything in the last 15 years has them.
It works, is cohesive and well put together, is reasonably lightweight and does come with software for running windows programs... Mostly without major issues. But claiming it's a windows substitute when it's literally less like windows than cinnamon mint is just a lie.
Don't believe me? Put your average windows user in front of this and watch them.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-08-08
Votes: 10
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I have been using Zorin for a couple of months and so far no screen flickering like others, very stable, nvidia and wayland works great, nice looking, and the most important Zorin can be a very productive environment, similar to other Linux distributions. The manual partitioning and installation were as simple as possible.
In particular you can adjust power plans to prioritize battery life or reduce performance to balance, which can lower fan noise. Therefore, you work happy and deeply comfortable.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-07-30
Votes: 5
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Don't come to Zorin if you are an experienced Linux user who is used to deep customizations to your own liking. There are long threads in the Zorin forums spelling out workarounds for things that would be simple tweaks in most other distros.
BUT, this distro is meant to be as Windows-like as it can be, so there it is for you. VERY well put together in looks and functionality; it really is in the "just works" category right from the beginning, and even in the live testing version. Install it and you'll be happy and can just begin your tasks confidently right from the first boot-up.
Software updates are well thought through and prepared, hence you'll not see breakage or things vanishing or being changed in strange ways; again, it just works.
You most certainly can customize the desktop, I am using Mate, and have it looking to your liking. I downloaded my favorite wallpapers and other items. I made the taskbar go to the bottom. I made the taskbar completely invisible with the icons and clock showing nicely in the colors I like. But again, don't try to go deep on customizations, Zorin wants the OS to work in its own ways, and that is fine.
The live environment detected my wifi and bluetooth devices, network, printers, phone, etc. And once installed, my personal tweaks and peripherals were right there ready to go as it remembered my live environment changes.
$49 for a solid, at least as good as Windows 11, linux distro.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 16.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-07-30
Votes: 14
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Took the path to Linux because of my disappointment of MS decisions (login credentials using ms account forced, also more and more "native" installation of Copilot and AI everywhere, "reading" open tabs or local files to "optimize user experience" so... I'm pretty worried about the data protection overall as I work in cybersec fields.
I was surprised how easy the installation was made and how uncomplicated the transition went for me. Also, gaming with steam I was positively surprised to see steam is onboard and also nvidia is supported - one of my worries that i had to dive into the terminal / prompting to ged my 2080TI to work with linux - but it all went really well.
I'm a windows user since 3.1 / Dos 6.0 and I really was sad to have to leave MS - it was a wild ride. But I'm really happy I made the switch and feel "home" using Linux / Debian / Ubuntu thanks to Zorins intuitive approach for ex Windows-Users.
Clearly for me as a future Zorin Pro User to support the project I can only recommend this Distribution.
Look and Feel and usage for me a flawless 10/10.
Thank you, Team Zorin for making it easy to leave a beloved home to find a new cozy nest. Means the world to me.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-07-02
Votes: 56
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I have been using Zorin for the last 4 or 5 years.
It is stable and very compatible with the mainstream debian and Ubuntu, easier than debian, more stable then Ubuntu.
Experience out of the box is good no need deep customization to have a Nice and polished desktop.
Overall glad with the experience, and also the lack of "surprises".
Recomended if you want the work done without problems.
Simple Windows apps Run without problems.
It is sold with the idea of a easy system for people coming from Windows, but the way I ser it is more than that, a very pleasant and stable desktop.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-06-30
Votes: 15
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I have been using Windows for 30 years and currently have 2 laptops running W10 that cannot be upgraded to W11. I was torn between Mint and Zorin for a long time. I chose Zorin because of its ease of use, which is similar to W10, and I am satisfied.
- Unforeseen bonus after the migration, the 2 PCs have become rockets again.
- The frequency of updates can be easily set and they are installed at an incredible speed.
- I am curious about version 18, which should be coming soon, with Linux Kernel 6.15, I hope.
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Project: Zorin OS
Version: 17.3
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-06-26
Votes: 8
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Zorin OS is a standout Linux distribution that combines elegance, ease of use, and strong performance. Designed with newcomers in mind, especially those transitioning from Windows or macOS, it offers a familiar and intuitive interface. The layout switcher is a fantastic feature, allowing users to choose a desktop style that suits their workflow right out of the box.
Performance is excellent—even on older hardware. Zorin OS is lightweight and efficient, making it a great choice for reviving aging laptops or desktops without sacrificing usability or looks. It comes with a solid set of pre-installed apps and access to a wide range of software via the built-in software center.
Zorin Connect is another highlight, allowing seamless interaction between your Linux system and Android phone—perfect for sharing files, replying to messages, and more.
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