Any tips and tricks, tweaks for a newcomer?

General Help
1

I've been distrohopping for quite a while and think that Zorin is my new home. As a newcomer on a semi-old laptop, what do you reckon i should make sure is properly set up? Any things that i need to correct to make sure i'm getting the most out of my system?
These are my specs btw:

System Details Report

Report details

  • Date generated: 2026-01-26 23:42:58

Hardware Information:

  • Hardware Model: Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 1
  • Memory: 16.0 GiB
  • Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-10310U Ă— 8
  • Graphics: Intel® UHD Graphics (CML GT2)
  • Disk Capacity: 512.1 GB

Software Information:

  • Firmware Version: N2YET47W (1.36 )
  • OS Name: Zorin OS 18 Core
  • OS Build: (null)
  • OS Type: 64-bit
  • Windowing System: Wayland
  • Kernel Version: Linux 6.14.0-37-generic
2

This should be ok, normally you should have mesa drivers (graphics card drivers)
for vulkan or DX12 support you should install vulkan drivers How to:

:white_check_mark: 1. Update your system

Open a terminal and run:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

:white_check_mark: 2. Install Vulkan runtime and development libraries

sudo apt install vulkan-tools libvulkan1 libvulkan-dev -y
  • vulkan-tools: Includes vulkaninfo and vkcube for testing.
  • libvulkan1: Vulkan loader and runtime.
  • libvulkan-dev: Development headers (optional, if you’re compiling apps).

:yellow_square: For Intel integrated graphics:

sudo apt install intel-media-va-driver-non-free intel-opencl-icd -y

Intel Vulkan drivers are often included in mesa-vulkan-drivers.

:white_check_mark: 4. Verify installation

Run:

vulkaninfo | grep "GPU"

or

vkcube

→ If you see a rotating cube, Vulkan is working.

perfs tweeks:

:toolbox: Intermediate Optimizations

5. Use a Lightweight Display Manager (Optional)

Replace GDM3 with LightDM:

sudo apt install lightdm
sudo dpkg-reconfigure lightdm

→ Choose LightDM during reconfiguration.

6. Enable ZRAM (Compressed RAM Swap)

Install and enable:

sudo apt install zram-config
sudo systemctl enable --now systemd-zram-setup@zram0

→ Reduces disk swap usage, speeds up memory-heavy tasks.

7. Clean Up Unused Packages

sudo apt autoremove --purge
sudo apt clean

8. Use Preload (App Launch Accelerator)

sudo apt install preload

→ Learns your usage patterns and preloads frequently used apps.

:desktop_computer: Hardware & Kernel Tweaks

9. Upgrade to Linux Kernel 6.8+ (Optional)

Zorin 18 uses 6.5 by default. Newer kernels offer better performance:

sudo apt install linux-image-generic-hwe-22.04

→ Reboot after.

10. Check for GPU Drivers

Ensure you’re using the correct Vulkan/OpenGL drivers (see previous answer). Misconfigured GPU drivers cause lag.

:bar_chart: Monitor Performance

Use these tools to spot bottlenecks:

  • htop → Real-time CPU/RAM usage
  • iotop → Disk I/O
  • nmon → System-wide monitoring

Install:

sudo apt install htop iotop nmon

:light_bulb: Bonus: Use Zorin’s “Performance Mode” (if available)

Some Zorin editions include a built-in Performance Mode toggle in Settings → Power → “Performance”.

:white_check_mark: Result: You’ll see faster boot times, snappier UI, and better multitasking — especially on older hardware.

1 Like
3

Thanks a lot! Gonna give it a try.

4

You're Welcome leave the lightdm change can be tricky, cheers

5

just a little note, zorin 18 use 6.14 kernel and not 6.5, 17.3 was 6.8

2 Likes
6

Honestly I would just make sure that all the programs and things you're going to want / need to do on your system are working and fully functional. Even if it's something you might only use once in a blue moon, it's better to get that figured out now rather than when you really need that one thing for a brief minute a couple months later and realize that portion of what you need isn't going to work the way you need it to.

7

Zorin 18 runs with Kernel 6.14:

image
image391Ă—228 6.45 KB

@mao:

Welcome to the Forum!

If You should have some Instability Issues, I would suggest to switch to Xorg from Wayland. But only when You have Issues.

Because You use the Core Version which uses Gnome: I can recommend the Extension Manager to manage and install Gnome Extensions. You can find it in Gnome Software:

grafik
grafik1150Ă—200 18.2 KB

1 Like
8

I don't have shares in it, but you could perhaps read my post:

Not directly related to Zorin, but it was a life-saver to this noob... :blush:

1 Like
9

the above is awsome choice if you have and extra drive /space if not timeshift is also and excellent option i have both on mine i do a clone of system to external drive 2 times a month in case something i try fails(lol) then i can just restore it back

1 Like
10

Hello,
Regarding point 6. Enable ZRAM (Compressed RAM Swap)
In my opinion, you should use systemd-zram-generator
zram-tools are from 2020, are archived, and systemd-zram-generator are from 2022.
The second option is maintained, supports Ubuntu 24.04, and is a Systemd version, so it should be used.
Install:
sudo apt install systemd-zram-generator
Configuration :
sudo gedit /etc/systemd/zram-generator.conf

Example :
[zram0]
zram-size = ram / 2
compression-algorithm = zstd
swap-priority = 100
fs-type = swap
Key settings explained:
zram-size: Defines the maximum uncompressed size. Use ram / 2 for half your RAM, ram * 2 for double, or 4096 for 4 GiB.
compression-algorithm: Use zstd for high compression .
swap-priority: Set to 100 to prefer zram over disk swap.
fs-type = swap: Creates a swap device. Use fs-type = ext2 to create a mountable filesystem.

1 Like