I am stable on Zorin OS 18 - after I made a serious list of modifications. In this sense, I am using Zorin OS 18 as a base.
I do not believe that it is even currently in a state that you would be happy.
You have different hardware and you have different usage needs. Were you to use it as a base and modify it to suit you, that would defeat the purpose of using Pro and as Ponce said; if you want to donate at that point; you are better off using the donate button.
I think your workflow is similar to mine; So changing the Desktop Environment is something you can more easily manage than some of the migrants that began on Core and fear another learning curve.
I removed LibAdwaita - entirely.
I am not using Gnome, nor Wayland.
All of the issues with each remain unfixed - save for one issue of Nautilus crashing due to the folder-color package, now removed from the repository.
I do not use WINE and the libdecor package dependency breakage remains unfixed.
My experience is stable because I am not using the things causing problems - but Zorin OS still is.
I went ahead and installed Zorin OS 18 Core on my spare laptop (to test it again). Much to my surprise, I was able to uninstall Camera through the software store. Just like how it should've been like in the first place. So, that's one less bug I guess Artyom and Kyrill fixed. Yay, I guess. Ha ...
I hesitate to join this discussion as I am reasonably satisfied. My present system is Zorin 17.3 Pro Lite on my desktop and 13" notebook. I have been waiting for a properly working upgrade before buying Zorin 18 Pro (don't really want to re-install this time - perhaps laziness).
I have Zorin 18 Core on my old Dell Mini (8GB and HDD) with XFCE4 installed, using XFCE panel with Whisker menu. Works well, but a little slow. I can use my own 'wallpaper' folder in XFCE. Only one problem - I can't make the "PrintScr" on my keyboard function in spite of trying various apps. When Zorin 18 Lite is released, this problem will be solved (hopefully). I can't imagine using Gnome again (ever).
I'm afraid I can't remember all the things I tried. At different times I installed Flameshot, then Screenshot, then Kazam, then XFCE4-screenshooter, but never has any success. It is not urgent - I am now waiting for Zorin 18 Lite, which should arrive any time soon (hopefully).
Thanks for the suggestion. Today I used a corded keyboard - 'Print Scr' button works in Zorin 18 Core, but in 18 with XFCE, it gives a popup: Failed to launch shortcut "Print". Failed to execute child process "XFCE4-Screenshooter" (No such file or directory). In fact, if I needed a screenshot, I could open 'Kazam' and get a shot saved in Pictures. I was really interested in why or how the key 'PrintScr' works in 17 Lite. It is really only curiousity (I hate to be beaten by a machine).
I must be getting careless as I get older. I did have xfce4-screenshooter installed at one point (together with all the other apps) and must have deleted it by mistake. My apologies for wasting everyone's time. It is now working properly. Thanks.
Most definitely not. It should just work 99+% of the time.
My sons worked flawlessly, my daughter's was (is?) a mess. The mirror had problems, and Zorin just couldn't recover from it. I had to edit a file which allowed the update to run through - but only sort of. I think all the files updated, but some new features that were immediately present on my son's device didn't activate, nor did the newer theme and the snazzy new window manager thingy at the top. It was there, it just wasn't turned on.
For my personal device, re-installing any OS is stressful because my configuration is never "ootb". I always set things up in "unique" ways. One day - one day - i'll learn Ansible and automate things. But this is hobby stuff for me, i just can't justify the time yet. Throw Windows dual-boot in there and ugh. I'm still "using" (very rarely) Win10 because i just know that updating it and replacing Nobara with Kubuntu will be an epic exercise... i have to "prepare" (mentally and actually)
"I want the complete eradication of Canonical, and the Gnome DE, to bring XFCE to the forfront where it works perfectly on all computers, and to change Zorin OS dev's decision on getting rid of Zorin OS Lite, and release new versions of Lite with every distro release period, and to demand getting rid of that ridiculous age verification, nobody asked for it, its just a conspiracy to control the population."
"Oh, is that all?"
"No its not all, but if I take the time to tell you all my grievances, my coffee will be cold, and I don't like cold coffee, especially when its cold out."
