Hello,
I recently upgraded from Zorin 17 pro to 18 pro. The update had some issues but I got most everything working.
The issue I am running into now is when I double click on an .exe file it does nothing. Double clicking the exact same .exe file worked fine on my Zorin 17 installation.
When I double click on any other file type, it opens per usual. It just seems to be the .exe files that are not opening.
I can get the .exe program to run. However, what it forces me to do is right click on the .exe file, select "Open With..." and click "Install Windows Apps". Then the software runs per usual with no problems. But I do not want to have to do these steps when I know it should work with just a double click.
On the "Open With..." screen, I make sure that the "always use this file type" is checked. But no matter what I assign to the be the default, when I double click, it just does nothing.
Also, if I right click and select "Run", it also will not run the .exe file.
Very strange, as this process worked just fine Zorin 17.
I was lucky and I found one .exe file that actually worked. So I tried to figure what what was different.
What was different was in "Properties", the "Execute as Program" was toggled "off".
In all my other .exe files the "Execute as Program" is toggled "on".
I tried a few others and sure enough, once I set the "Execute as Program" to "off", the double click worked like normal.
I assume all my settings were carried over from Zorn 17, I know I did not change anything. Why would this be?
I know, but whenever I toggle "Execute as Program" to "on" and double click on the .exe files, it does nothing. When I turn it to "off", and then double click it, the program ran as expected.
I know it sounds strange, but this threw me for weeks. It was dumb luck that I figured it out because I had one .exe file that was not toggled on and to my surprised it worked and that was the only thing different between that file and all the others.
I upgraded from Zorin 17 Pro about two months ago and I have had many small odd problems. I finally got 18 Pro to boot and mostly to work, but it is just many small very odd issues like this that I have decided to just reinstall Zorin 17 Pro and let some updates come through and worry about it later.
Zorin 17 Pro has been the smoothest, least problematic OS I have ever used, it literally fixed every issues I had with Zorin 16 Pro, not that there was many. However, now I am fighting with Zorin 18 at every turn. I will give it some time to cook and try again in a year or so. I know others are having very good luck with Zorin 18 so maybe it is just my computer's configurations.
I think what confused me was on Zorin 17, at least on my computer, it did not seem to matter if the box was checked or unchecked for it to run the .exe file by double clicking. So I got in the habit of just checking it. However on Zorin 18, it seems it must be unchecked if I wanted to get the double click to work.
I am not sure on this, since I have not checked on this detail.
Zorin OS 18 is based on Ubuntu 24.04 and that edition of Ubuntu was one that saw a lot of changes in Gnome desktop and System hardening.
This is why on Zorin OS 17, launching Steam was no problem.
But on Zorin OS 18, launching Steam can lead to a PolKit denial, wanting a policy rule for Steam in order to launch it.
Due to a lot of this hardening, it may be that Nautilus is now more strict about file associations in regards to permissions.
Thank you for the information. I did notice some differences in how Nautilus worked from 17 to 18, and not always in ways I prefer. Like I said in a previous post, Zorin 17 is hands down the best OS I have ever used. It just works on all my computers, modern and older PC's. However, I am running into some challenges with Zorin 18 where I never did with previous version of Zorin. With enough time, I will figure it out.
I like Zorin 18, but I think there are some changes, maybe with Gnome and/or Ubuntu, that make the experience a little different. I started my Zorin journey with Zorin 12 and it felt like each new version got better and better, but there is something different with 18. I do not think it is Zorin's doing and I will continue to support what they do with the Pro versions. I am not worried.
But what you said in your post makes perfect sense.
By the way, I wanted to thank you (and others) for all your posts on this forum, they have helped me tremendously many, many times in the past to get things working.
I appreciate it!
A large chunk of the issues many cover are not ZorinGroups direct doing.
And yes, Ubuntu, WINE and others, caused headaches for many Ubuntu derivatives.
As has Gnome.
And this is an area where distros also have some power. They can deliver choices of their own to enact pressure on the mistake makers - this bridges the gap between Direct and Indirect.