Oh, I forgot inxi. Needless to say, it helps troubleshooting.
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I had to look this up, is Gnome Control Center what we normally call "Settings"?
So I didn't read every comment (and accidentally posted this, in the wrong thread last night) but i'd say Less pre-installed software see below. But add flatseal, and gnome tweaks by default since ZorinOS uses components of these and they are very useful.
Direct Upgrade options is always nice 
Or a built in user migration option.
Software can still be pre-configured and deployed in setup based on additional user input, Pro example we have the option of minimal and Full, this could be updated to include other options, such as Creativity - and you get gimp, blender,kdenlive, handbrake ect, Laptop - might include auto-cpufreq or tlp and a minimal install. a gaming option might include steam lutris, kde-games, open-rgb (lol) ect.
Just gives more flexibility and a more user focused customized install while having a consistent product and without having to offer multiple versions for download.
One thing I do miss from ZorinOS is packages not being up-to-date. I think it would be nice to have some of these packages that are frequently installed, or asked about, much better updated through the official repositories.
For example, in this other thread @Aravisian found that flameshot is no longer available on the official Ubuntu repositories.
@337harvey also suggsted Python and Nodejs, two pacakges that while available (and Python is even pre-installed) are not even remotely up to date.
Other programs such as Brave browser are also not available through official repositories at all, although to be fair I don't think this is the case of any distribution for some reason.
I'm not saying that every package should be tracked and updated, or even to the very latest version, but having packages that are over 5 years out of date is very disappointing.
Zorin OS is based on Ubuntu. Ubuntu is based on Debian. There is some control in a distribution over enhancing some updates.
For example, the Zorin OS kernel exceeds Ubuntus current, much less exceeding the original Ubuntu 20.04 kernel.
Which... I will comment on this further in a moment.
But, over-all, ZorinGroup cannot manage all other maintainers packages. Even Ubuntu cannot.
The Package Maintainer is the one responsible for updates. They look over bug reports or feature requests, add, fix or regress as necessary, then upload a new version to the repository. This then passes through Debian, through Ubuntu, through Zorin OS.
Every single one of Zorin OS specific applications are 100% up to date.
You may ask: is this then a Linux problem?
No. It's the same on Windows. It is the same on Mac. It is the same on Android.
And those are just common operating systems that ordinary people use. There are
thousands
of operating systems in the world.
It's. Just. Computing.
So, above, I mentioned further comments on the kernel. And this will continue into further addressing your above comment as it touches on an issue that is a major thorn in my paw.
Zorin OS is using a very high kernel, actually. And we witness first hand on this forum the problems that causes.
It is true that it is not high enough for a handful of users with the latest hardware. But over-all, I have personally witnessed an increase in the trouble-tickets over issues with the kernel on Zorin OS due to regressions.
There is a difference between a package being out of date (outdated) and a package being old.
A package may be out of date of the maintainer has introduced New Features or Bug fixes that would mean you may have the better experience on the later package in the opinion of the maintainer. This does not mean that the older package is outdated. Many users may have no trouble with that bug and not want the latest so-called features. This is why we have apt mark-hold
A package is officially outdated when the maintainer declares that there are ample changes to insist that an older version no longer be used. Period.
It is not when a user says, "I don't like that older version so it is therefor outdated and that is a fact."
A chocolate cheez-whiz eating space dragon ate my underwear and that is a fact.
In human nature, it is common to just want to make things easy. And it is easy for people to look at one number, decide that it is bigger than another number and then decide that = good. No effort to read change logs or research or see if it really applies to them. Just "I want bigger."
Sometimes a user does want the latest. The latest bug fix. The latest features. This is valid and perfectly fine. And they can get that. Nothing is stopping them. The onus is on them to install it, not to expect others to do that extra effort on their behalf much less to force their own wants on all the other users that simply expect a Stable package in the repository that doesn't have the problems of new unreported bugs and regressions, crashes and freezing.
Yep that is the one.
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My request for python 3.9 and 3.10 is in addition to the standard installed version for development. This means that there will be three versions of python, and I would be able to switch berween them with the update-alternatives command. Same with Java and Javascript (node.js). They are developer packages.
I'm not asking for the latest and greatest, I'm asking for additional versions for development purposes.
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Distro repositories do not need to cover every app. If the distribution of apps is dependent on distros, major distros will be able to suppress apps that are inconvenient to them.
Would this really apply to the general users of Zorin OS and are you able to install these on your own?
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I am, but this goes toward the mentioned specializations. There has been discussion of gamer and development versions... in addition to the education and soon to be Enterprise editions. The ZorinGroup had mentioned of possibly supporting such additions in the future.
Many users find Zorin the same way I did, interested in coding/ software development, and introduced to Linux this way. We have many threads asking how to install language packages in order to develop in those languages. Some running into problems because of using the dependency version instead of installing additional versions. While it is a specialization request, it would include a large number of the current Zorin community, just as a gamer version would impact a large portion of the Zorin community as well.
What I mention are common installations for those on the devolopment journey. Three options for IDE, four common languages and two communication applications used by schools and mentorships (that I've read about and used).
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The most ideal thing would be a choice in the installer:
- Minimal
- Standard
- Gamer
- Development
- Education
for the installation of the version. While the installer may be huge, what gets installed would be what you choose. Possibly multiple choice. Just an opinion.
I realize this could be problematic. Nothing against wishing or mentioning.
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An user (I can't recall who), mentioned an installation app where users could pick'n'choose which apps should be installed, like picking which browser etc. these apps shouldn't be on the .iso but rather downloaded while installing the OS.
I think it's a nice idea.
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Same - I remember that being mentioned but do not remember who, when or the context. It might have been @JeffK969 , I am not sure.
But the concept behind the idea is a great one - if it could be implemented.
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My example comes from the other thread I linked to, about downloading flameshot from the repositories. When I searched for it, the version available was released in 2018 but the actual .deb package available in the releases page was from 2022 (ok, 4 years instead of 5). Is this not what outdated means?
Wouldn't it be better to use Docker for something like this?
Maybe, but you would still need the python versions you want to develop in to create the script. Docker is just a wrapper, no different than snap, flatpak or appimage. It's not a development environment.
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As I said, that topic or issue is a thorn in my paw.
But I apologize to you for using your post as an example since that is a bit misleading. I do not fault your post or choice of words.
I expressed a view I think many readers need based on what your words inspired me to think about when I read them.
If that makes sense.
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Of course! And that actually got me wondered, who is "responsible" from keeping the repositories updated with new packages or security fixes? In this case since ZorinOS is based on Ubuntu, would that be Ubuntu? I imagine ZorinOS has additional repositories for its own packages like themes or Zorin Connect (although I know some are packaged as flatpaks).
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Used to do this for a previous employer, using post windows installer, and asp page, during windows 7 oobe setup user was presented a logo'd web[page and they'd select their department, and then role, and a selection of apps would be pre-selected and then wpi was used to trigger silent installs one after another to custom deploy a workstation for the users role, while the bank only required the burning on a single winpe image for deployments, and installs went over the network.
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Some useful Gnome extensions.
Date Menu Formatter is useful to customize date display in the taskbar. To be honest, I hope that Zorin Taskbar will integrate this functionality.
Clipboard Indicator caches clipboard history. Windows already has similar functionality.
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Bring back the applications that were previously available in the previous version of Zorin that are missing in Zorin 16 and Pro/ultimate version has all the applications from the other versions, especially from the Education edition or other edition/versions