Zorin OS 16 is a solid performer, nonetheless. But it is always GNOME functionality underneath. Zorin OS 16’s Windows-like desktop appearance option is more like a vanilla version of many Linux desktops. You can find many of these features and more innovations in other Ubuntu-based distributions that offer more desktop choices than GNOME and Windows-like overlays. Still, you can go only so far in modifying how GNOME looks and works. The Settings panel provides for turning off/on a wide range of features. The Appearance tool lets you make one-click changes to the basic layout, theme, interface, desktop, and fonts. Its settings menu and Zorin Appearance tools make Zorin 16 extremely configurable. I found Zorin 15 to be a worthy operating system filled with refinements that made using the GNOME interface much better than typical GNOME retread distros.īut the Ubuntu universe - and the wider Linux world of desktop designs - leaves a tweaked GNOME desktop environment a bit too limiting.ĭon’t get me wrong, I like much of what is built into Zorin OS 16.

Zorin OS co-founder Artyom Zorin spearheaded efforts to lean more heavily on GNOME underpinnings in this independent Ubuntu-based Linux distribution. That started to change with its version 15 release in March 2020. Since its inception in July 2009, Zorin has seen its mission as providing a Windows clone experience as far as the look and feel of the desktop’s design is concerned. That is, of course, if you are enamored with a Windows-like desktop interface or crave another rendition of simplifying the GNOME desktop.

However, this latest upgrade brings several improvements and a few new features to give a satisfying Linux experience that tries to be something else. 17, Zorin OS falls short of offering wider user appeal to those looking beyond Windows-like computing. But despite some stellar improvements delivered in version 16, released Aug. Zorin OS is one of the more endearing Linux operating systems available for both Linux veterans and computer users transitioning from Windows.

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