Using fresh install Zorin 17.3 Core.
Been a hardcore Windoze tech guy for 35 years, thought I'd give the Linux Zorin experience a try.
Coming from Win10 I notice significant desktop latency issues at high CPU use, these do not present in Win10. Latency around mouse movement is particularly noticeable, it's rather unnerving and reminiscent of Win95 days.
It feels like the underlying system has a higher priority and locks out the desktop under certain load conditions, not nice, not smooth and feels very out dated.
What kind of system and specs are you running? Are we looking at a newer system or something older? You could turn off a lot of the desktop effects in the settings, which would possibly help with some of this. I would also recommend, if you haven't, switching to Xorg instead of Wayland (which you can do at the login screen when you're typing in your password, in the cog in the bottom right of the screen).
Would this also be during specific application use that you're running into high CPU use? And by high, are we talking 60-70%, or 100%?
Having grown up with 95, I can say I haven't had anything remind me of that in decades (other than DEs that explicitly look like it).
One reason for evaluating Zorin 17.3 was to see if a 5 year old lappy with low specs would run better than Win11, Win11 isn't that responsive/pleasant on this kit either but I despise the dumb down GUI the most.
Having read the hype on how Zorin/Linux supports older spec'ed kit perhaps my expectations were set too great.
Software fully updated. Not much installed, mostly core and a few apps like FileZilla etc, oh an Bottles
Latency is typically presented at near 100% CPU, which seems to occur quite frequently. For example running the Software centre intermittently triggers 100%, or opening an app (Libre writer for example). The desktop becomes unresponsive/laggy during this time.
That cpu is a little on the slow side, I would actually recommend you could try Zorin Lite rather than Core, which uses XFCE instead of Gnome (which is lighter on resources than gnome). You could also switch over to Xorg and see if that helps on core, but that cpu is still going to be a bottleneck.
Your 64GB is most likely emmc, that's typically what it would be if we're talking about a very small laptop / netbook type situation. Not the best, but should be usable in this scenario.
You could also try another distro that is aimed at lightweight usage, such as q4os/antix etc, as they are VERY light in their resource usage. So if even Lite ends up a bit tight for the computer, there should still be plenty of distros that would work with that machine. I have a machine running similar with another OS that's made for lightweight and it runs very well.
I could also run a Raspberry pie and just terminal but the lappy is what I have as my backup and linux tester, hoping it would run Zorin 17.3 and provide a near Win10 experience, and it's not bad at all, in fact I love it, apart from a few unpolished areas.
This latency is my main gripe, it feels so laggy and so Win95. It's not all the time, it does only present when both CPUs are at near / 100%.
I'm not sure running Lite would give me the Win10 experience and switching between all these distros/windows seems to negate the out-of-the-box-experience.
Most Win10 users will be lazy and clueless, to entice them over it needs to work Oob. And corporate, well that's another level on top!
Sadly I think the issue you have is a Celeron Processor and emmc motherboard. Depending where you live, Dell outlet in UK refurb Dell Notebooks with 250 Gb SSD and decent amount of RAM with Win 11 for £385. You could wipe that and put GNU/Linux on it. If you are looking for a Win 10 Experience you really need a Plasma Desktop Environment like Q4OS or PCLinuxOS Debian. I made a video of Q4OS (my good lady's elderly PC that I built in 2006 has Q4OS on it, an Athlon 64 Processor, 2 Gb RAM (max) and an EVGA 512 Mb AGP 8x graphicscard with Win 10 theming).
Well, that is a Trying Process. Zorin Lite uses the xfce Destop as Base. And that is one of the Desktops that are ressource-friendly. Gnome (the Base of Zorin core Desktop) is way more hungry about that.
So, with your Specs, I would say that trying Zorin Lite is at least worth a Try. But at the End it is up to You what You want to do.
The reason is a 'lite' version running a different GUI/Desktop doesn't sound like it could provide Win10 experience which requires many bells and whistles of Win10. I could be completely wrong of course as clearly I haven't tried this. But what features would be missing, will it be a game of sacrificing functionality for irritating latency?
What I'm looking for is a Linux Win10 experience on a lappy that can run quite comfortably run Win10 but without having to upgrade to the hideously dumbed down Win11, oh and why not learn something new like linux too.
I would say that Zorin lite and Zorin core do not differ in terms of Windows integration.
Zorin lite sounds as if it does not contain many functions - but the opposite is the case. Gnome is much more restrictive in the customizable user options. I had both installed on my old hardware and Zorin lite ran much better. If you like to tinker with your system and customize it to your liking, Zorin lite offers you a better basis for doing so, as it is more customizable.
Even if wine is available - it will never be like Windows. If you want that, it is better to run Windows in a virtual machine but that will be slow with your specifications.
Wine's goal is not to look like Windows, but to allow you to run some Windows programs on Linux.
You can also install the Zorin lite desktop within Zorin Core, so you don't have to reinstall Zorin core if you like Zorin lite and want to use it. You will then have the XFCE desktop environment:
sudo apt install zorin-os-lite-desktop
So you can choose at each login which DE you want: Gnome or XFCE.
The Main Difference is, that Zorin had to add various Gnome Extensions to the Desktop get get this Win10 Feeling. On the Lite Desktop a Taskbar and Startmenu come by default. but of Course zorin has customized it and added the Layouts.
You can simply try it on a USB Stick to take a Look at it. You don't need to install it directly. Download it and put it on the USB Stick and start it.
Or - like @Forpli already explained - You can install the Zorin Lite Desktop on core, too wit the Command sudo apt install zorin-os-lite-desktop but to get a common Impression, I would suggest to go the USB Way.
I switched to and only use Lite due to it containing all the features missing in Core.
Many of us have noted that the "Core" and "Lite" naming convention is misleading.
Expectations are tricky things.
GnuLinux and Windows OS are different operating systems and while a GnuLinux Distro like Zorin OS can help ease the transition by resembling Windows on the surface and making the learning curve much less painful - it will not work the same way Windows OS does.
When you think about the things you wanted in life: They generally all took effort from you. From learning to drive a car and gain independence to a career to owning a home... Everything worthwhile takes a bit of wiping your brow.
Think less about how easy something can be and more about how determined and capable you are.
This is true, but Zorin's marketing is attempting to snatch Win10 users away, so it needs to support far more 'core' features out of the box for this to happen. There are way too many issues and workarounds needed for the 'normie' and not 'keen DIY techie' currently.
Don't get me wrong, it's a great start and I'm enjoying the learning opportunity but to become successful core expectations need to be met. I could only recommend a techie pick this up to experiment with at the moment, looking forward to Z 18. My observations using Z 17.3 core needing addressing.
Desktop/mouse latency issues (update: switching to Xorg at logon option may help)
Oob hibernate
Lacking fast start up
Missing OneDrive system integration
Needs a file manager that functions: file transfer window & DnD support of online browser based websites. (Update - DnD resolved by switching to Xorg at the logon screen)
Be capable of running older lappies (SSD) - this is key as MS perpetually forces new hardware upgrade costs are not warranted.
Remain Win10 GUI focused.
I would also expect AD integration but that's a business requirement.
App notifications are erratic and inconsistent - see Telegram for example. Also random notifications saying 'app is ready' when being app is already launched.
Zorin team - keep up the amazing work, it's really coming along
but the lappy is what I have as my backup and linux tester, hoping it would run Zorin 17.3 and provide a near Win10 experience, and it's not bad at all, in fact I love it, apart from a few unpolished areas.
