(Please read this post with a tone of passion. I AM actually very passionate about FOSS and Linux, and Zorin a bit also)
i actually agree with @AllDayinVA's remarks about core apps. If Zorin had its own set of apps, follwing a preset HIG then i think soon others would follow. It'ds one of the things Apple did right. there's simply no discussion about that.
I also understand this isnt an easy task for a group of volunteers, working in their spare time on things. Apple has a relativly large RD department, paid professionals, its in some ways not fair to compare Linux to Apple. The remark "If you don't like it, move to a different distro" is fair and valid. But its also the reason why no Linux distro will ever be as big as Windows/MacOS. Linux developers in general are too much focussed on their own corner, and rightfully so! but that does present challenges to people who are "less geeky". Granted, i was much suprised with the fact that Linux has app stores now. Linux really has come far the past decade 
its a pleasant suprise for me! But would i tell my mom to use Zorin.. no, not yet
In regards to @Aravisian's remarks about Elementary OS.. ive used it a bit. and yes, they do many things right with their own app store and their own set of programs, they just have very ugly looks (thats my opinion. im not stating it as a fact) and i have to look minimal 8 hours a day to my screen, so looks ARE important.
When it comes to people complaining about removing core apps.. this is true, people do complain about that. But people also complain about Safari. and its still the most used browser on iOS. Simply because the general population dont care what they use. if its on there by default and it works good, then they'll use. The people you DON'T hear are the people who "open the internet" instead of Safari or Firefox. Most people still dont care how their computer works, they just want it to work. i still do Servicedesk work every once in a while when there's a lot of sickness, and still noone ever came to me and said "can you explain why it isnt working, i like to know" they say "fix it, i want it to just work!"
@DeanG thanks for clearing that up 
i wasnt aware its not a Zorin specific store.. You dont care about star ratings, and i can quickly figure out if something is good or bad.. but again, my mother could not. She would open the store and go "oh, if so many people rated it good, then it must be safe to use right!" She wouldn't know how to check where the software came from, let alone run any CLI tools to check outgoing connections you dont want. For most people its "if its in the sotr, then it must be good." And since no Linux distribution can ever pay enough people to check all the software in the store's.. hence my comments about letting users rate it.
I feel i'm in the same boat as @zGnOmaha i'm getting more and more frustrated with big tech, and how they try to control the world.. So i went from bad Windows experiences, to a lot of tinkering with linux, to Apple because i became too tired to tinker.. But still, my principles are getting in the way more and more often. Apple went from beeing a vision to beeing a shareholders pet. its that simple. And if you dont care much, then its still good stuff. i still advise it to most of the people i come in contact with. But to me.. other things matter as well.
I have to believe that Zorin is looking towards the bigger marked, given that they are working on Zorin grid. i am close to ordering a Starlabs laptop with Zorin Pro, both because the starlabs guys have convinced me it just works and i dont have to tinker around to get sleep working etc. But also because i dont mind paying for good stuff. And in this i am not alone. So even though i will remove most of the stuff that comes with Zorin pro, i will still pay for it to support the dev's. I could get a much cheaper laptop, but they don't look as good as the starbook. Again, looks matter. It's something Apple understood from very early on. People are visual animals. Something i learned to exploid when i worked in the food industry. No matter how much high class cacao you put it in, if the cake looks like poop, people will not buy it. no matter how great the taste.
@Aravisian you speak about corruption and greed. And much of this is true. But it only takes one person with a vision and good leadership..
I believe it is possible to have these good quality and well integrated apps that @AllDayinVA and i speak of (dream of) and still stay true to the core beliefs of FOSS.
If i was a milionair, i would instantly buy Elementary OS, pay the dev's to change the GUI into something nice to look at (again, this is subjective.. but 7 out of 10 people will chose the macOS gui over Elementary's.. so looks ARE important) Get into business with some hardware vendors (like starlabs) look into making it proffitable..
I work in IT Security, and i recently got a job at a very small firm, saw half my salary vanish into thin air, and i have NO regrets. why? because my two collegues do the same. No big car's, no fancy suits. We use much FOSS tools to keep the prices low so we can help the SMB become more secure. We could easily use the same FOSS tools and charge big bucks to big company's (what my former company did) so we can buy big cars.. But for me and my collegue's its not about money. We want to earn enough to live good lives, but we dont care about becoming rich. You can't take it with you in the end anyway. I now get to spend time with my clients, and actually talk with them, understand their worries and their dreams, and not be bothere by targets and managers. To me, this is more important then money. I only care for money because you need it to pay the bills.
In fact, if i was rich i might even stop working all together and get the whole country op Zorin OS because i had enough time to help everyone, and pay some people to do Servicedesk as well ahh the dreams i have
Look at my long post.. and they say IT people dont know how to communicate, tssk.
Also, please dont see my posts as complaints, or attacks. if anything, see them as a compliment from someone who thinks Zorin can be something, and who wants to think along how to do that
AND.. while im still dreaming, imagine if we had Zorin Tab and Zorin phone.. WHOOOO! one could finaly get rid of the big tech! Something i believe more and more people are beginning to realize. the most heard (and true) excuse is "but what else is there, nothing that works for me".
In the end my "loathe" of money is also my biggest achillisheel.. because if i had money, i could do with Linux what Apple did If there's one thing big ol' Steve and i have in common, its that we where/are both HSP people. And those people tend to care for perfection and detail (a very handy trait when you're in ITSec
@AllDayinVA I'm no programmer (i'm learning Rust though) but it seems to me you and i are on the same page when it comes to core apps etc.. maybe we should brainstorm a bit, what if we could figure out a way to provide high quality core apps, but with the freedom for users to use them?
I found a very briliant young designer who designed a complete touch GUI. we just lack the funds to pay for programmer's, otherwise i would have had my linux tablet already
And now im off to bed..
