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A Windows 10 Alternative: Ubuntu-Based Zorin OS Linux Distro (betanews.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the GUI-goodness dept.

"With a click of a button, you can change the desktop layout to match that of Windows versions and Gnome 3. The Ultimate edition...also features Ubuntu, Gnome 2 and macOS-like layouts." BrianFagioli shares an article about a Linux-based operating system "designed for Windows-switchers." While the company does charge for an "Ultimate" version, the "Core" edition of Zorin OS 12 is entirely free... "As Zorin OS 12 is based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, it will be supported with security updates until April 2021. This makes Zorin OS 12 the ideal choice for large deployments in businesses, governments, schools and organisations", says The Zorin OS Team"... Zorin OS features some really great features, such as Google Drive integration with the file browser.
Although unlike Windows 10, its default browser is Chromium.

12 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. layout == replacement? by iggymanz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Making a desktop look like Windows 10 is hardly the requirement for a replacement. Can it run Windows software, or replacements for them in a way no other linux distro could? I think we know the answer, hell no.

    1. Re:layout == replacement? by Hognoxious · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You will have to admit though that tablets and smartphones these days feature apps that are easy/intuitive to use and often beat clunky desktop apps with slow development cycles.

      No I won't. Take your fixie and fuck off on it.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    2. Re:layout == replacement? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm still waiting for the current batch of DE to match the usability of 1990 desktops. They seem to remove more than they add, with decreased flexibility. But gee 'modern'.

    3. Re:layout == replacement? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Who has to admit that?

      The applications available even for Linux desktops for a number of uses are better than anything available for any tablet, let alone Mac and Windows desktops. Smartphone and tablet "apps" on the other hand? Sure, they have a low barrier to entry as far as use is concerned, but there's far less variety. I can't get anything for the Android tablet that I do own to edit HD video in any reasonable way (partly because it's not powerful enough, partly because the software isn't available for the tablet anyway). In Linux I apt-get install kdenlive and I can do everything I need to...for nothing.

      Smartphones and tablets are easy and intuitive to use, absolutely. If you think that they're anywhere close to the point where they can "beat clunky desktop apps" in all sorts of arenas (not just HD video processing), you obviously haven't used a desktop for much more than games and browsing. Here's a fun exercise, try coding something on your smartphone using the touchscreen, you'll see what I mean pretty much immediately. Desktops have taken a big hit because a lot of people just don't need one; there's quite a lot of people left who do. The problem is that they tend to build a system that works for them for years and years, whereas the smartphone lifecycle is much shorter and more profitable. The "desktops are obsolete" argument is about as unlikely to me as a paper-free office, even today. Technically? Sure, both can probably be replaced...when a better replacement comes along.

    4. Re:layout == replacement? by DarkVader · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No kidding. It's a cancer that's affected all operating systems. Linux has gotten some of the worst of it, but Apple is suffering too. Somebody needs to pull out Apple's old Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines and read it.

      And MicroSloth never got it anywhere close to right to start with.

  2. Preinstall it or die by paulatz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Seriously, those of us who can install an operating system are hardly scared by "moving to a desktop environment like GNOME or Unity can be confusing and scary (from TFA)." Those of us who are scared by such a monstrous change in paradigm will never be able to install an OS, or understand that an OS is not part of the laptop, for what matters.

    Either these guys manage to get their stuff preinstalled on some decent PCs, and I wish them the best luck possible, or I hardly see some hacker giving them 15 bucks for the privilege of a macosx-inspired theme, 20 crappy games and video wallpapers (I may give them some money to NOT have video wallpapers).

    --
    this post contain no useful information, no need to mod it down
  3. Nope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sorry, but just making the UI "similar" is not enough to make it an "alternative" any different than the likes of Mint.
    It would need to actually be able to run every Windows based applications and games, without issues, for it to be an "alternative".
    This is just Linux with a different coat of paint on top, nothing new.

    1. Re:Nope... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Sorry, but just making the UI "similar" is not enough to make it an "alternative" any different than the likes of Mint. It would need to actually be able to run every Windows based applications and games, without issues, for it to be an "alternative".

      No. If you have to have an OS that runs every single Windows program, well then poor lad - you are stuck with Windows.

      As an alternative, it only has to do what the user wants it to do. You can do email - unless for some reason you have to have a Windows specific only email program. You can do web Browsing, unless you absolutely have to have Exploder or Edge. You can do Office Suites, unless you have to use the outlier non-compatible with itself Windows Office suites. In that case, you have my sympathy

      What you are trying to say is that it has to duplicate Windows and all it's programs.

      Why would we want to mess up our computers that way?

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    2. Re:Nope... by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Not even Windows runs every single Windows program.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  4. Why is this an OS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    When I started with Linux we had maybe five serious distros, and I don't think we have that many more nowadays, maybe ten. If you're going to make you own window manager or desktop then that's great, I applaud that. But this is an entire distro in itself. Are you really going to keep up with security patches on the same level as the Ubuntu or Debian security teams? Because that's what you need to do today if you're making an OS that you want to be taken seriously. Otherwise it's better to just make a package and have users install it from your repository.

  5. Re:Gaming by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Can I play Battlefield on it? Can I play Civ 6? I guess not. I would love to switch to Linux. The fact of the matter, nearly every program which I want to run, does not work natively on Linux. Office? Nope. Photoshop? Nope.

    You brag about your closed ecosystem, while I think "poor guy is stuck running Windows."

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  6. Win2k is the apex of windows GUI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Win2k is the last windows version with a efficient UI.
    Every version after add more eye candy while simultaneously try to hide functionality. Settings are hidden inside more and more layers and take far more clicks to access.
    I would say Win2k is the closest point to "right" any MS OS ever been.