9 ms·

1M Downloads of Zorin OS 18

275 points by m463 1y ago

rsolva 1y ago
I get a 404, this is the correct URL: https://blog.zorin.com/2025/11/18/test-the-upgrade-from-zorin-os-17-to-18-and-celebrating-1-million-downloads-of-zorin-os-18/ https://blog.zorin.com/2025/11/18/test-the-upgrade-from-zori...
- rolph 1y ago
  thats probably because so many people are downloading a 5~7 GB file. a mirror site[s] or a reputable torrent, would likely be helpful. try these: https://zorin.com/os/download/18/core/ https://zorin.com/os/download/18/core/ https://zorin.com/os/download/18/education/ https://zorin.com/os/download/18/education/
  - _ache_ 1y ago
    No, the link is off. Ether they rename the article or it's an error from HN side.
    - rolph 1y ago
      it seems the link has changed, or corrected, but lands at a "blog" page Re zorin and install instructions. my OP has a couple links direct to the ISO downloads. they are large files, and move slow. its been the better part of a day and its almost finished downloading for me. 3.5, and 7.5 GB respectively. https://zorin.com/os/download/18/core/ https://zorin.com/os/download/18/core/ [3.5GB ISO] https://zorin.com/os/download/18/education/ https://zorin.com/os/download/18/education/ [7.5GB ISO]
christophilus 1y ago
Why Zorin? It’s always struck me as a weird distro. I can’t put my finger on why, but it feels off. I wonder how much of a bump other distros have seen in the same period.
- Buxato 1y ago
  Because usually it works, the out of the box deb + snap + flatpak, polished experience cozy look with some presets to minimice friction, + ubuntu LTS its a nice pack.
- cosmic_cheese 1y ago
  More than other distros, Zorin markets (and has marketed) itself as Windows-like, which probably elevates it in search rankings and LLM queries for people looking for a distro that more closely mirrors what they’re familiar with. People really, really want a “Windows, but just the good parts” with as little deviation and required learning as possible in terms of desktop experience. A distro with a DE that nearly perfectly replicates “greatest hits” Windows versions (2K/XP/7/10) would probably be doing serious numbers right now if it existed.
  - GaryBluto 1y ago
    > A distro with a DE that nearly perfectly replicates “greatest hits” Windows versions (2K/XP/7/10) would probably be doing serious numbers right now if it existed. Funnily enough Zorin used to offer this. http://web.archive.org/web/2012fw_/zorin-os.com http://web.archive.org/web/2012fw_/zorin-os.com "Zorin Look Changer" used to "let you select from Windows 7, XP, Vista, Ubuntu Unity, Mac OS X or GNOME 2" themes, whilst newer versions want you to pay nearly $50 for the privilege (although they have significantly reduced their offerings, with their "Windows Classic" theme just being their "Windows-list like" theme with a slightly different start menu).
    - k_roy 1y ago
      $50 seems cheap for what they have probably put tons of money into to have consistent theming, in terms of both actual aesthetic and functionally. I say this as someone getting annoyed daily by KDE inconsistencies over decades.
      - cosmic_cheese 1y ago
        I have never used Zorin or its theme changer, but I strongly doubt it's much better than what can be accomplished by installing a third party theme, which are never that good and only resemble the mimicked operating systems in the broadest of strokes.
bee_rider 1y ago
They have a very slick and professional looking webpage. Is it weird that that makes me wary? I’m used to the best distros having webpages that look like a wiki or a professor’s website.
- jimbo808 1y ago
  In the past it made more sense to have a shitty webpage because open source projects don't tend to have graphic designers contributing to them, but anyone can AI a decent looking static site these days, so it wouldn't surprise me if some of those open source maintainers start choosing to use them.
  - HumanOstrich 1y ago
    "AI" isn't a verb, and most people don't care to cargo-cult their designs just to appease other members of the cult.
    - layer8 1y ago
      In English, any noun can be verbed. https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/verbing-nouns/6838872.html https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/verbing-nouns/6838872....
    - jimbo808 11mo ago
      Some people appreciate a nice looking site, they just didn’t have time to spend making it look nice. Now those people have the option of doing that without a huge time commitment, so undoubtedly some of them will.
- hombre_fatal 1y ago
  You can so easily vibe code a landing page that these days still having a bad landing page suggests you really don’t care about the details, and that’s a bad sign. It’s a brochure website.
  - GaryBluto 1y ago
abcd_f 1y ago
How many came from AWS, Azure and GCP IPs? ;) Seriously though, a per-country breakdown would've been very interesting to see.
- stanac 1y ago
  Who would run Windows on AWS? I know some companies do, but it's like 0.01% of all Windows machines.
  - SahAssar 1y ago
    The implication is that it's a lot of bots using a common user-agent string.
polski-g 1y ago
So what is it? Ubuntu with KDE?
- mastazi 1y ago
  Ubuntu with a custom DE that has pre-set options to look like Windows or MacOS, so that people moving to Linux from another OS find themselves at home. The custom DE is based on Gnome according to the Wikipedia page[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorin_OS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorin_OS
- zamadatix 1y ago
  Customized Gnome https://zorin.com/os/details/ https://zorin.com/os/details/
- codingrightnow 1y ago
  Ubuntu with Gnome.
  - Narishma 1y ago
    Isn't that redundant?
constantcrying 1y ago
If people stopped creating weird spinoff distros, which offer zero value except for a preconfigured Desktop, the entire Linux Desktop ecosystem would be in a far better place. These distros focus on aesthetics choice, but underneath they are always plagued by the same things, tiny maintainer teams completely overwhelmed with the task of managing a distribution. Leading to a great first impression, but an inevitable breakdown in usability. Every single person would be better served by Kubuntu than Zorin. Simply because Kubuntu has far superior backing behind it. There are hundreds of these weird distros, targeting different audiences and they are all terrible, because none of them have the actual capabilities of maintaining their distro.
- more_corn 1y ago
  This opinion is what’s holding Linux back. Having a clean and pleasant user experience on top of a stable Debian based distributed is the goal.
  - GaryBluto 1y ago
    > Having a clean and pleasant user experience on top of a stable Debian based distributed is the goal. That may be the goal for you personally but it certainly isn't the greater goal of Linux as a whole.
  - constantcrying 1y ago
    Exactly, you do that by installing Debian with KDE. Not by creating a new distro, which you do not have the resources to properly maintain, which is then perpetually broken in weird ways, which no user can figure out since the base distribution does not have the problems the completely understaffed maintainers introduced. What all of these distros want to be is a basic configuration script. What they are is a nightmare for every user, since the user is now in the hands of a few people, who as a hobby are maintaining his OS and occasionally will break it. It is so bizarre that so many people want to make distros, when they are completely unequipped up do so.
    - tvb12 1y ago
shevy-java 1y ago
It seems as if Microsoft really put the gun to many people. Many things they don't want in Win11 yet Microsoft does not listen. Hopefully that will last - Microsoft has caused more than enough damage at this point in time. Quality-wise I feel the new Win-releases are progressively getting worse, less and less caring what users may want.
dingdingdang 1y ago
And I bet even more have downloaded Linux Mint tbh!
Jailbird 1y ago
Did we learn nothing from "A View to a Kill" ?
mattmaroon 1y ago
Linux fans are like Charlie Brown with the football every time some new distro claims to be starting to eat MS’s market share.
- loloquwowndueo 1y ago
  Probably gonna have to explain this for folks unfamiliar with Charlie Brown.
  - mattmaroon 1y ago
    I know and it makes me sad that that exists. I had the thought as I wrote it, do kids these days know the Peanuts?
Someone1234 1y ago
I've been a Windows user since 3.1; and I've even defended Microsoft in the past (particularly when they made unpopular choices, but for technically correct reasons, like UAC or forcing vendors to rewrite their drivers into userland or using a safer driver model). BUT, I won't defend Windows 11 and Microsoft's general direction. I feel like there has been a slow cultural shift within Microsoft, from a core of fantastic engineers surrounding by marketing/sales, to the org's direction being set by marketing/sales UX be damned. Plus it feels like a lot of the technical expertise retired out, and left a bunch of engineers scared to touch core systems instead preferring to build on top using Web tech. It means that Windows/Office stopped improving, and have actually both regressed significantly. I've actually found myself recommending MacOS, particularly the prior generation of Macbook Airs which are absurdly powerful with absurd battery life for a fair price. Combine that with the lack of user hostility, and UX, that MacOS brings relative to Windows 11, and it is hard to ignore.
- api 1y ago
  A big concern I have for the industry is what happens as people who truly understand how this stuff works age out. Unfortunately we seem to have stopped replacing them. Part of the issue is that computers today require no deep knowledge to use, unlike first or second generation PCs that genX and millennials grew up with. So you’re not getting as many people with this knowledge. Just as significant I think is the prevalence of lucrative work higher up the stack. Why learn deep system internals when slinging JS and wiring together APIs pays as much or more.
  - xuhu 1y ago
    Thank God for lucrative work higher up the stack. Maybe programmers will stop being the only scapegoats for rising home prices and the high cost of living.
  - laxd 1y ago
    > Part of the issue is that computers today require no deep knowledge to use, unlike first or second generation PCs that genX and millennials grew up with. A point that I've often tried to convey among friends and family. No! Todays kids aren't natural tech wizards because they grew into it. All they know is pressing buttons where the UI/UX norms are good enough that you'll figure it out quickly, especially as a kid. In my early days I'd press commands out of the back of a manual in order to see what my commodore 64 was all about if I didn't load a game. Turned out I was programming basic (at the level you'd expect from a clueless kid, but still) Later, in the 90's with your family PC, you were bound to learn some stuff just by wanting to play games. Drivers? Filesystem? Patches? Cracks? OS? Hardware components (you'd not unlikely put it together yourself). And I think I was born too late for the best of lessons.
BoppreH 1y ago
Very sleek marketing, but why did they rebrand (the fantastic) KDE Connect to "Zorin Connect"[1]? From the mere <30 commits, I see no reason for the fork, only confused users. If it was tightly integrated into the OS I could sort of understand not mentioning its name, like you don't want "Foobar Control Panel" and "FizzBuzz Start Menu". But KDE Connect is a standalone app you can install even on Windows. And this is not just hiding the name, it's replacing it! So, why the "rebrand"[2]? It feels like an attempt at stealing credit. [1] https://github.com/ZorinOS/zorin-connect-android https://github.com/ZorinOS/zorin-connect-android and https://github.com/ZorinOS/gnome-shell-extension-zorin-connect https://github.com/ZorinOS/gnome-shell-extension-zorin-conne... [2] https://github.com/ZorinOS/zorin-connect-android/issues/19 https://github.com/ZorinOS/zorin-connect-android/issues/19
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- ddtaylor 1y ago
  Forking it makes it easier to convince your flock of sheep that you must pay for GPL software. It also gives them a lot of opportunity to inject their own happy accidents into there.
  - BoppreH 1y ago
    Wow, you were not kidding: https://zorin.com/os/pro/ https://zorin.com/os/pro/
- fau 1y ago
  Presumably because a good portion of the target audience are less technical users, and there's no reason to be throwing extra (ex-)initialisms at them. "Zorin Connect" is clearly something that will connect my Zorin OS to something. "KDE Connect" is something that might perhaps connect me to a "KDE", but what's a "KDE" anyway and why would I ever need to connect to it?
  - stonogo 11mo ago
    On the other hand, you've now made it one step harder for people to find the documentation.
casey2 1y ago
One thing that's important but rarely mentioned in discussions like these is how many Windows users even have experience working on unix systems these days? I feel like they are in for a rude awakening if they assume every OS is like windows
- nehal3m 1y ago
  If all you do is start a browser and maybe an e-mail client then for the majority of users it will be like Windows.
  - pacifika 1y ago
    Sad if that is really the outcome of decades of computing.
    - squigz 1y ago
      What, normalizing being able to access the entire world of knowledge and cultural information, and talk to family and loved one's easily and at any distance? I know right. Absolute travesty. Come on grandpa, why aren't you programming?
- prmoustache 1y ago
  It took months for my other half to realize she wasn't on windows anymore after her hdd died and she only knew it because I said I could not install office 365 on Linux so she'd better get used to either libreoffice or onlyoffice is she didn't want to pay 5bucks a month to use a limited web version of office.
- jasonfarnon 1y ago
  I don't see that it needs to be any more of a rude awakening than when os x went BSD.
jackvalentine 1y ago
I’m looking for a replacement OS for my mother in law whose computer is aging out of Windows 10 support. I’m glad to see slick distributions like this trying to fill that gap. That said her requirements are _so_ simple that Debian with Chromium would probably satisfy 100% of her requirements which are ‘download documents from gmail and print them’.
- chillfox 1y ago
  Get her on a Mac if you can. I got my mum to switch to Mac from Windows over a decade ago and it’s been fantastic for both of us. Her support needs dropped from once every two months to once every few years, and she’s been able to do more with her computer than she would ever have attempted on Windows. She’s been using knitting software to make patterns to share and learnt how to use photoshop, all by herself. The computer just working and not breaking anytime she tried something was fantastic for her confidence in trying/learning new things.
  - jackvalentine 1y ago
    No I don’t think I’ll spend a minimum of A$999 so she can use chrome and print things.
    - carlosjobim 1y ago
      You can buy a refurbished M1 for half that, and it will be the best computer she ever had.
      - jackvalentine 11mo ago
        No I don’t think I’ll spend $499 on a second hand computer so she can change from using her current working computer for chrome and printing things.
  - hamdingers 1y ago
    Sounds like they're on the market for a new OS, not a new computer, which I think is the situation a lot of Windows 10 users are finding themselves in.
OsrsNeedsf2P 1y ago
And how many people are running Zorin?
oliyoung 1y ago
Could it be? Could 2026 be the year of linux on the desktop?
- chr15m 1y ago
  lol
ddtaylor 1y ago
I have a long history with ZorinOS, and I will make it very short. They are grifters. The simple fact is that they release open source software, much of which is licensed as GPL. They modify these programs from time to time to be compatible with ZorinOS, etc. They refuse to release any of their sources sometimes, and when they do, they put takedowns and ban people from their community because they believe their paid-for ISOs are closed-source - which is not true. If you think I'm wrong, mistaken, lying, etc. grab any ZorinOS ISO and go put it on a ZorinOS community website, such as Reddit and sit back and watch. It's worth mentioning I find all of the ZorinOS downloads using DHT scan. I haven't touched them in a while, but I still find the entire situation perplexing. I have to imagine part of this issue is that the Chinese community is newer to FOSS and doesn't understand these longstanding ideas.
- indigodaddy 1y ago
  A bit odd that you say long history with Zorin but you imply that there is some connection to "Chinese community," when in fact Zorin Group is an Irish company? I have no skin in this game and never had any desire to use Zorin but I was able to look that up in about two seconds plus their website contact info says Ireland.
  - ddtaylor 1y ago
    I'm not claiming that any specific companies are registered in China or operate from China. It's possible that because many Chinese users are using Zorin this is why their community has taken a different stance on free/open software licensing. EDIT: Either way, my main point is that Zorin is responsible for how they redistribute the source code and other modifications to the software they sell. They refuse to do that sometimes, and they gaslight their community / the open source community.
wartywhoa23 1y ago
I've been using Ubuntu for 3 years now, and now that I'm about to upgrade my 13 y.o. laptop, there's a dilemma for me between choosing some top(ish)-spec x86_64 laptop or macbook pro M4. The former just keeps me going with Ubuntu, but forces to still dual-boot Windows for some creative software I use that Ubuntu lacks (a certain DAW and a CAD modeller). The latter gives me an awesome (or so it seems) OS that is much closer in spirit to Ubuntu than to Windows and supports everything I need, but leaves me vendor-locked to whatever user-hostile directions Apple might take in the future. I'd like to ask people who had been using both Ubuntu and MacOS, what would you advise? And MacOS users in particular, are you happy with the direction it has been evolving, and with that of Apple itself?
- whatevermom2 1y ago
  Hi, had to create an account just to answer. Vendor lock-in is not that much of a problem with macOS; you can install pretty much anything you want and it looks like it will still be in the future unlike mobile platforms. MacOS is very easy to get used to so the transition shouldn't hurt :) If your only concern is vendor lock-in, I think you should be good with macOS. I am saying this as someone who switched to Asahi because I wanted more freedom relative to the desktop environment (wanted a real tiling window manager). MacOS + Apple hardware is an incredible combination that has not been reproduced anywhere. Maybe one thing to be careful of: you cannot install Linux on M3 and M4, so if you want to make a switch later on, you won't be able to. Ah and btw you can dual boot Asahi on M1 and M2! Hope I helped a little :)
  - wartywhoa23 1y ago
    Oh, thank you very much for chiming in! That twist on Asahi x M3+ was interesting - is that because something wasn't ported yet and the support will be there one day, or there'll be a hard block for Asahi forever for M3+?
    - whatevermom2 1y ago
      From what I understood, the CPUs are different and need work for them to be supported. There is no hard block, but sadly, two key people resigned from the Asahi Linux team. I am not even sure if there is someone even trying to work on this. Another example is microphone support on M2 series that's not there yet. Many issues with Asahi are also that there is an incompatibility in page sizes (16k on MX vs 4k on most CPUs), and combined with the usage of ARM, software compatibility is an actual problem if you want to use VMs, DAW software (nothing will work there except Reaper ...) (Maybe this paragraph was a bit ranty, but I'm actually very glad we got Asahi in the first place. It's my daily driver and I'm relatively happy with it) TL;DR: no hard blocker but there is a people "problem"
jmpeax 1y ago
The pro version comes with "Professional-grade creative suite", but they don't tell you what you're actually getting. It's just opaque corporate-speak one-liners "Make real progress toward your goals".
gerdesj 1y ago
It is Ubuntu based and the website looks amazing and it markets itself as a Windows replacement. Good skills. It will probably manage to Secure Boot and run, say, ESET (handy for audit points in the enterprise world).
ab_testing 1y ago
Apart from the UI layer, is there anything else that differentiates Zorin from Ubuntu or even Debian.
m3kw9 1y ago
So copying apple works. OS 18 with mountains in the background. I think this is why Apple pulled a 26.
larntz 1y ago
Anyone remember Lycoris? https://deadlinux.fandom.com/wiki/Lycoris https://deadlinux.fandom.com/wiki/Lycoris I never used it and had to look it up, but this post reminds of it. I think they might've charged for it also. Here's a review thread from 2002 slashdot... https://linux.slashdot.org/story/02/03/18/1916248/lycoris-desktoplx-review https://linux.slashdot.org/story/02/03/18/1916248/lycoris-de....
bethekidyouwant 1y ago
Sign of the times. It’s just some gift wrapped Ubuntu.
globular-toast 1y ago
As someone who refused to "upgrade" to Vista 15+ years ago and has been using GNU/Linux ever since I'm absolutely amazed by people's tolerance. What took you people so long? I've had 15 years of freedom and joy. But I'm glad more people are finally seeing the light.
entropyie 1y ago
Delighted to see something made in Ireland that didn't come from a multinational... The Zorin brothers have worked on this since they were teenagers. https://stconleths.ie/the-zorin-brothers-technology-for-humanity/ https://stconleths.ie/the-zorin-brothers-technology-for-huma... They were even on the national news a few weeks back!
icemelt8 1y ago
very good, but no thanks, I'd rather use the state of the art M series mac chips with polished MacOS
nacozarina 11mo ago
As a unix/x-windows user in the 90s I grew to hate M$ and longed for a time when they would get displaced. Thanks to their cooperation, the Year of the Linux Desktop really has finally arrived.

275 points by m463 1y ago

I get a 404, this is the correct URL: https://blog.zorin.com/2025/11/18/test-the-upgrade-from-zorin-os-17-to-18-and-celebrating-1-million-downloads-of-zorin-os-18/ https://blog.zorin.com/2025/11/18/test-the-upgrade-from-zori...

rolph 1y ago
thats probably because so many people are downloading a 5~7 GB file. a mirror site[s] or a reputable torrent, would likely be helpful. try these: https://zorin.com/os/download/18/core/ https://zorin.com/os/download/18/core/ https://zorin.com/os/download/18/education/ https://zorin.com/os/download/18/education/
- _ache_ 1y ago
  No, the link is off. Ether they rename the article or it's an error from HN side.
  - rolph 1y ago
    it seems the link has changed, or corrected, but lands at a "blog" page Re zorin and install instructions. my OP has a couple links direct to the ISO downloads. they are large files, and move slow. its been the better part of a day and its almost finished downloading for me. 3.5, and 7.5 GB respectively. https://zorin.com/os/download/18/core/ https://zorin.com/os/download/18/core/ [3.5GB ISO] https://zorin.com/os/download/18/education/ https://zorin.com/os/download/18/education/ [7.5GB ISO]

christophilus 1y ago

Why Zorin? It’s always struck me as a weird distro. I can’t put my finger on why, but it feels off. I wonder how much of a bump other distros have seen in the same period.

Buxato 1y ago
Because usually it works, the out of the box deb + snap + flatpak, polished experience cozy look with some presets to minimice friction, + ubuntu LTS its a nice pack.
cosmic_cheese 1y ago
More than other distros, Zorin markets (and has marketed) itself as Windows-like, which probably elevates it in search rankings and LLM queries for people looking for a distro that more closely mirrors what they’re familiar with. People really, really want a “Windows, but just the good parts” with as little deviation and required learning as possible in terms of desktop experience. A distro with a DE that nearly perfectly replicates “greatest hits” Windows versions (2K/XP/7/10) would probably be doing serious numbers right now if it existed.
- GaryBluto 1y ago
  > A distro with a DE that nearly perfectly replicates “greatest hits” Windows versions (2K/XP/7/10) would probably be doing serious numbers right now if it existed. Funnily enough Zorin used to offer this. http://web.archive.org/web/2012fw_/zorin-os.com http://web.archive.org/web/2012fw_/zorin-os.com "Zorin Look Changer" used to "let you select from Windows 7, XP, Vista, Ubuntu Unity, Mac OS X or GNOME 2" themes, whilst newer versions want you to pay nearly $50 for the privilege (although they have significantly reduced their offerings, with their "Windows Classic" theme just being their "Windows-list like" theme with a slightly different start menu).
  - k_roy 1y ago
    $50 seems cheap for what they have probably put tons of money into to have consistent theming, in terms of both actual aesthetic and functionally. I say this as someone getting annoyed daily by KDE inconsistencies over decades.
    - cosmic_cheese 1y ago
      I have never used Zorin or its theme changer, but I strongly doubt it's much better than what can be accomplished by installing a third party theme, which are never that good and only resemble the mimicked operating systems in the broadest of strokes.

bee_rider 1y ago

They have a very slick and professional looking webpage. Is it weird that that makes me wary? I’m used to the best distros having webpages that look like a wiki or a professor’s website.

jimbo808 1y ago
In the past it made more sense to have a shitty webpage because open source projects don't tend to have graphic designers contributing to them, but anyone can AI a decent looking static site these days, so it wouldn't surprise me if some of those open source maintainers start choosing to use them.
- HumanOstrich 1y ago
  "AI" isn't a verb, and most people don't care to cargo-cult their designs just to appease other members of the cult.
  - layer8 1y ago
    In English, any noun can be verbed. https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/verbing-nouns/6838872.html https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/verbing-nouns/6838872....
  - jimbo808 11mo ago
    Some people appreciate a nice looking site, they just didn’t have time to spend making it look nice. Now those people have the option of doing that without a huge time commitment, so undoubtedly some of them will.
hombre_fatal 1y ago
You can so easily vibe code a landing page that these days still having a bad landing page suggests you really don’t care about the details, and that’s a bad sign. It’s a brochure website.
- GaryBluto 1y ago

abcd_f 1y ago

How many came from AWS, Azure and GCP IPs? ;) Seriously though, a per-country breakdown would've been very interesting to see.

stanac 1y ago
Who would run Windows on AWS? I know some companies do, but it's like 0.01% of all Windows machines.
- SahAssar 1y ago
  The implication is that it's a lot of bots using a common user-agent string.

polski-g 1y ago

So what is it? Ubuntu with KDE?

mastazi 1y ago
Ubuntu with a custom DE that has pre-set options to look like Windows or MacOS, so that people moving to Linux from another OS find themselves at home. The custom DE is based on Gnome according to the Wikipedia page[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorin_OS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorin_OS
zamadatix 1y ago
Customized Gnome https://zorin.com/os/details/ https://zorin.com/os/details/
codingrightnow 1y ago
Ubuntu with Gnome.
- Narishma 1y ago
  Isn't that redundant?

constantcrying 1y ago

If people stopped creating weird spinoff distros, which offer zero value except for a preconfigured Desktop, the entire Linux Desktop ecosystem would be in a far better place. These distros focus on aesthetics choice, but underneath they are always plagued by the same things, tiny maintainer teams completely overwhelmed with the task of managing a distribution. Leading to a great first impression, but an inevitable breakdown in usability. Every single person would be better served by Kubuntu than Zorin. Simply because Kubuntu has far superior backing behind it. There are hundreds of these weird distros, targeting different audiences and they are all terrible, because none of them have the actual capabilities of maintaining their distro.

more_corn 1y ago
This opinion is what’s holding Linux back. Having a clean and pleasant user experience on top of a stable Debian based distributed is the goal.
- GaryBluto 1y ago
  > Having a clean and pleasant user experience on top of a stable Debian based distributed is the goal. That may be the goal for you personally but it certainly isn't the greater goal of Linux as a whole.
- constantcrying 1y ago
  Exactly, you do that by installing Debian with KDE. Not by creating a new distro, which you do not have the resources to properly maintain, which is then perpetually broken in weird ways, which no user can figure out since the base distribution does not have the problems the completely understaffed maintainers introduced. What all of these distros want to be is a basic configuration script. What they are is a nightmare for every user, since the user is now in the hands of a few people, who as a hobby are maintaining his OS and occasionally will break it. It is so bizarre that so many people want to make distros, when they are completely unequipped up do so.
  - tvb12 1y ago

shevy-java 1y ago

It seems as if Microsoft really put the gun to many people. Many things they don't want in Win11 yet Microsoft does not listen. Hopefully that will last - Microsoft has caused more than enough damage at this point in time. Quality-wise I feel the new Win-releases are progressively getting worse, less and less caring what users may want.

dingdingdang 1y ago

And I bet even more have downloaded Linux Mint tbh!

Jailbird 1y ago

Did we learn nothing from "A View to a Kill" ?

mattmaroon 1y ago

Linux fans are like Charlie Brown with the football every time some new distro claims to be starting to eat MS’s market share.

loloquwowndueo 1y ago
Probably gonna have to explain this for folks unfamiliar with Charlie Brown.
- mattmaroon 1y ago
  I know and it makes me sad that that exists. I had the thought as I wrote it, do kids these days know the Peanuts?

Someone1234 1y ago

I've been a Windows user since 3.1; and I've even defended Microsoft in the past (particularly when they made unpopular choices, but for technically correct reasons, like UAC or forcing vendors to rewrite their drivers into userland or using a safer driver model). BUT, I won't defend Windows 11 and Microsoft's general direction. I feel like there has been a slow cultural shift within Microsoft, from a core of fantastic engineers surrounding by marketing/sales, to the org's direction being set by marketing/sales UX be damned. Plus it feels like a lot of the technical expertise retired out, and left a bunch of engineers scared to touch core systems instead preferring to build on top using Web tech. It means that Windows/Office stopped improving, and have actually both regressed significantly. I've actually found myself recommending MacOS, particularly the prior generation of Macbook Airs which are absurdly powerful with absurd battery life for a fair price. Combine that with the lack of user hostility, and UX, that MacOS brings relative to Windows 11, and it is hard to ignore.

api 1y ago
A big concern I have for the industry is what happens as people who truly understand how this stuff works age out. Unfortunately we seem to have stopped replacing them. Part of the issue is that computers today require no deep knowledge to use, unlike first or second generation PCs that genX and millennials grew up with. So you’re not getting as many people with this knowledge. Just as significant I think is the prevalence of lucrative work higher up the stack. Why learn deep system internals when slinging JS and wiring together APIs pays as much or more.
- xuhu 1y ago
  Thank God for lucrative work higher up the stack. Maybe programmers will stop being the only scapegoats for rising home prices and the high cost of living.
- laxd 1y ago
  > Part of the issue is that computers today require no deep knowledge to use, unlike first or second generation PCs that genX and millennials grew up with. A point that I've often tried to convey among friends and family. No! Todays kids aren't natural tech wizards because they grew into it. All they know is pressing buttons where the UI/UX norms are good enough that you'll figure it out quickly, especially as a kid. In my early days I'd press commands out of the back of a manual in order to see what my commodore 64 was all about if I didn't load a game. Turned out I was programming basic (at the level you'd expect from a clueless kid, but still) Later, in the 90's with your family PC, you were bound to learn some stuff just by wanting to play games. Drivers? Filesystem? Patches? Cracks? OS? Hardware components (you'd not unlikely put it together yourself). And I think I was born too late for the best of lessons.

BoppreH 1y ago

Very sleek marketing, but why did they rebrand (the fantastic) KDE Connect to "Zorin Connect"[1]? From the mere <30 commits, I see no reason for the fork, only confused users. If it was tightly integrated into the OS I could sort of understand not mentioning its name, like you don't want "Foobar Control Panel" and "FizzBuzz Start Menu". But KDE Connect is a standalone app you can install even on Windows. And this is not just hiding the name, it's replacing it! So, why the "rebrand"[2]? It feels like an attempt at stealing credit. [1] https://github.com/ZorinOS/zorin-connect-android https://github.com/ZorinOS/zorin-connect-android and https://github.com/ZorinOS/gnome-shell-extension-zorin-connect https://github.com/ZorinOS/gnome-shell-extension-zorin-conne... [2] https://github.com/ZorinOS/zorin-connect-android/issues/19 https://github.com/ZorinOS/zorin-connect-android/issues/19

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ddtaylor 1y ago
Forking it makes it easier to convince your flock of sheep that you must pay for GPL software. It also gives them a lot of opportunity to inject their own happy accidents into there.
- BoppreH 1y ago
  Wow, you were not kidding: https://zorin.com/os/pro/ https://zorin.com/os/pro/
fau 1y ago
Presumably because a good portion of the target audience are less technical users, and there's no reason to be throwing extra (ex-)initialisms at them. "Zorin Connect" is clearly something that will connect my Zorin OS to something. "KDE Connect" is something that might perhaps connect me to a "KDE", but what's a "KDE" anyway and why would I ever need to connect to it?
- stonogo 11mo ago
  On the other hand, you've now made it one step harder for people to find the documentation.

casey2 1y ago

One thing that's important but rarely mentioned in discussions like these is how many Windows users even have experience working on unix systems these days? I feel like they are in for a rude awakening if they assume every OS is like windows

nehal3m 1y ago
If all you do is start a browser and maybe an e-mail client then for the majority of users it will be like Windows.
- pacifika 1y ago
  Sad if that is really the outcome of decades of computing.
  - squigz 1y ago
    What, normalizing being able to access the entire world of knowledge and cultural information, and talk to family and loved one's easily and at any distance? I know right. Absolute travesty. Come on grandpa, why aren't you programming?
prmoustache 1y ago
It took months for my other half to realize she wasn't on windows anymore after her hdd died and she only knew it because I said I could not install office 365 on Linux so she'd better get used to either libreoffice or onlyoffice is she didn't want to pay 5bucks a month to use a limited web version of office.
jasonfarnon 1y ago
I don't see that it needs to be any more of a rude awakening than when os x went BSD.

jackvalentine 1y ago

I’m looking for a replacement OS for my mother in law whose computer is aging out of Windows 10 support. I’m glad to see slick distributions like this trying to fill that gap. That said her requirements are _so_ simple that Debian with Chromium would probably satisfy 100% of her requirements which are ‘download documents from gmail and print them’.

chillfox 1y ago
Get her on a Mac if you can. I got my mum to switch to Mac from Windows over a decade ago and it’s been fantastic for both of us. Her support needs dropped from once every two months to once every few years, and she’s been able to do more with her computer than she would ever have attempted on Windows. She’s been using knitting software to make patterns to share and learnt how to use photoshop, all by herself. The computer just working and not breaking anytime she tried something was fantastic for her confidence in trying/learning new things.
- jackvalentine 1y ago
  No I don’t think I’ll spend a minimum of A$999 so she can use chrome and print things.
  - carlosjobim 1y ago
    You can buy a refurbished M1 for half that, and it will be the best computer she ever had.
    - jackvalentine 11mo ago
      No I don’t think I’ll spend $499 on a second hand computer so she can change from using her current working computer for chrome and printing things.
- hamdingers 1y ago
  Sounds like they're on the market for a new OS, not a new computer, which I think is the situation a lot of Windows 10 users are finding themselves in.

OsrsNeedsf2P 1y ago

And how many people are running Zorin?

oliyoung 1y ago

Could it be? Could 2026 be the year of linux on the desktop?

chr15m 1y ago
lol

ddtaylor 1y ago

I have a long history with ZorinOS, and I will make it very short. They are grifters. The simple fact is that they release open source software, much of which is licensed as GPL. They modify these programs from time to time to be compatible with ZorinOS, etc. They refuse to release any of their sources sometimes, and when they do, they put takedowns and ban people from their community because they believe their paid-for ISOs are closed-source - which is not true. If you think I'm wrong, mistaken, lying, etc. grab any ZorinOS ISO and go put it on a ZorinOS community website, such as Reddit and sit back and watch. It's worth mentioning I find all of the ZorinOS downloads using DHT scan. I haven't touched them in a while, but I still find the entire situation perplexing. I have to imagine part of this issue is that the Chinese community is newer to FOSS and doesn't understand these longstanding ideas.

indigodaddy 1y ago
A bit odd that you say long history with Zorin but you imply that there is some connection to "Chinese community," when in fact Zorin Group is an Irish company? I have no skin in this game and never had any desire to use Zorin but I was able to look that up in about two seconds plus their website contact info says Ireland.
- ddtaylor 1y ago
  I'm not claiming that any specific companies are registered in China or operate from China. It's possible that because many Chinese users are using Zorin this is why their community has taken a different stance on free/open software licensing. EDIT: Either way, my main point is that Zorin is responsible for how they redistribute the source code and other modifications to the software they sell. They refuse to do that sometimes, and they gaslight their community / the open source community.

wartywhoa23 1y ago

I've been using Ubuntu for 3 years now, and now that I'm about to upgrade my 13 y.o. laptop, there's a dilemma for me between choosing some top(ish)-spec x86_64 laptop or macbook pro M4. The former just keeps me going with Ubuntu, but forces to still dual-boot Windows for some creative software I use that Ubuntu lacks (a certain DAW and a CAD modeller). The latter gives me an awesome (or so it seems) OS that is much closer in spirit to Ubuntu than to Windows and supports everything I need, but leaves me vendor-locked to whatever user-hostile directions Apple might take in the future. I'd like to ask people who had been using both Ubuntu and MacOS, what would you advise? And MacOS users in particular, are you happy with the direction it has been evolving, and with that of Apple itself?

whatevermom2 1y ago
Hi, had to create an account just to answer. Vendor lock-in is not that much of a problem with macOS; you can install pretty much anything you want and it looks like it will still be in the future unlike mobile platforms. MacOS is very easy to get used to so the transition shouldn't hurt :) If your only concern is vendor lock-in, I think you should be good with macOS. I am saying this as someone who switched to Asahi because I wanted more freedom relative to the desktop environment (wanted a real tiling window manager). MacOS + Apple hardware is an incredible combination that has not been reproduced anywhere. Maybe one thing to be careful of: you cannot install Linux on M3 and M4, so if you want to make a switch later on, you won't be able to. Ah and btw you can dual boot Asahi on M1 and M2! Hope I helped a little :)
- wartywhoa23 1y ago
  Oh, thank you very much for chiming in! That twist on Asahi x M3+ was interesting - is that because something wasn't ported yet and the support will be there one day, or there'll be a hard block for Asahi forever for M3+?
  - whatevermom2 1y ago
    From what I understood, the CPUs are different and need work for them to be supported. There is no hard block, but sadly, two key people resigned from the Asahi Linux team. I am not even sure if there is someone even trying to work on this. Another example is microphone support on M2 series that's not there yet. Many issues with Asahi are also that there is an incompatibility in page sizes (16k on MX vs 4k on most CPUs), and combined with the usage of ARM, software compatibility is an actual problem if you want to use VMs, DAW software (nothing will work there except Reaper ...) (Maybe this paragraph was a bit ranty, but I'm actually very glad we got Asahi in the first place. It's my daily driver and I'm relatively happy with it) TL;DR: no hard blocker but there is a people "problem"

jmpeax 1y ago

The pro version comes with "Professional-grade creative suite", but they don't tell you what you're actually getting. It's just opaque corporate-speak one-liners "Make real progress toward your goals".

gerdesj 1y ago

It is Ubuntu based and the website looks amazing and it markets itself as a Windows replacement. Good skills. It will probably manage to Secure Boot and run, say, ESET (handy for audit points in the enterprise world).

ab_testing 1y ago

Apart from the UI layer, is there anything else that differentiates Zorin from Ubuntu or even Debian.

m3kw9 1y ago

So copying apple works. OS 18 with mountains in the background. I think this is why Apple pulled a 26.

larntz 1y ago

Anyone remember Lycoris? https://deadlinux.fandom.com/wiki/Lycoris https://deadlinux.fandom.com/wiki/Lycoris I never used it and had to look it up, but this post reminds of it. I think they might've charged for it also. Here's a review thread from 2002 slashdot... https://linux.slashdot.org/story/02/03/18/1916248/lycoris-desktoplx-review https://linux.slashdot.org/story/02/03/18/1916248/lycoris-de....

bethekidyouwant 1y ago

Sign of the times. It’s just some gift wrapped Ubuntu.

globular-toast 1y ago

As someone who refused to "upgrade" to Vista 15+ years ago and has been using GNU/Linux ever since I'm absolutely amazed by people's tolerance. What took you people so long? I've had 15 years of freedom and joy. But I'm glad more people are finally seeing the light.

entropyie 1y ago

Delighted to see something made in Ireland that didn't come from a multinational... The Zorin brothers have worked on this since they were teenagers. https://stconleths.ie/the-zorin-brothers-technology-for-humanity/ https://stconleths.ie/the-zorin-brothers-technology-for-huma... They were even on the national news a few weeks back!

icemelt8 1y ago

very good, but no thanks, I'd rather use the state of the art M series mac chips with polished MacOS

nacozarina 11mo ago

As a unix/x-windows user in the 90s I grew to hate M$ and longed for a time when they would get displaced. Thanks to their cooperation, the Year of the Linux Desktop really has finally arrived.