Question about switching to another OS

Is anyone here thinking to try another OS?

I don't mean Zorin is bad. It's, in fact, too good. I've been using Zorin as my daily driver for more than 2.5 years now.

I'm thinking maybe, just for the sake of a change, try another OS.

Which OS (that is based on Ubuntu) do you recommend to try? I'll first try it in VirtualBox.

Is Elementary OS any good?

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I avoid Elementary OS, as I prefer to control the OS instead of the OS controlling me. But why not load it up in a VM and try it out? You may like it just fine.
There is also Linux Mint. Which I am certain is on your radar, already.
Pop_OS
If you would like to explore other Desktops: Budgie, KDE - like KDE Neon...

Get out there and Explore using your VM to set your own pace. I enjoyed distro hopping early on. Lately, It is not as fun... As I began to realize that the base framework is often the same, so it makes more sense to pick one and then customize it to be how you want.
I settled on Zorin OS because of many reasons... But the primary one was that Zorin OS gives great performance and I do not know what it is that the ZorinGroup does to make this happen.
I make Zorin OS my base, then customize it to be the OS I want.

Distro Hopping is a good way to expose yourself to what customizations exist, what can be set up and how to customize your computer your way.

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Next in line for me would be Linux Mint or Kubuntu or Pop!_OS.

I would recommend you stay away from distros that have a rolling release (like ArcoLinux), you never know with these what will break next...

I've been thinking of trying out Pop!_OS, as everyone keeps saying so many good things about it and version 22.04 was recently released.

Another great option that I tried for a while is Linux Mint, very user friendly and stable. Whichever you go for, make sure there's a community behind it to help out with any issues and questions.

I also have been using Linux Mint for about a month now. I have found there to be a couple of differences between it and Zorin. The software store and software updater just seem to work a lot better on LM. And also better than POP OS updater. This may just be my system and internet connections but so far I have had no problems with the software updater on LM.

I have also found both POP OS and LM to be easier for me to install games on. I have just not been able to get games to work on my machine using Zorin. I know several on here have gotten games to work fine on Zorin but even with some great help from this forum my machine just does not like games when using Zorin but LM seems especially easy to install windows games on. I use Play on Linux and they just seem to install and work.

I realize everyone's use of their PC is different and all PCs are not the same so of course your experience may be different than mine. Just sharing my experience with a couple of other distros. My main PC I use all the time is a laptop with Zorin 16 core and I will probably not change that. It just works day after day with no problems at all. I have LM on my desktop that I use to test out other distros and play games on.

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Why not be daring and give Devuan 4.0 a go? I chose it as it does not have SystemD, but uses SysVinit boot loader instead. I am running the KDE desktop, but I also have Gnome Flashback installed and LXQt - much nicer than xfce, but that is just my opinion. Also it can be installed by someone with no sight and all menus work with the screenreader. When the screenreader version is installed it uses ALSA and not Pulse Audio, but you can't turn the Accessibility option off sadly which is what I would like to do so I don't have Pulse Audio - that said I have 'disabled' Pulse Audio anyway.

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I would recommend Linux Mint Cinnamon if you hardware is modern, but if it is an older machine Linux Mint Xfce, both are excellent, also try the daddy Ubuntu for a real change. The good thing about Linux is you can try the Live ISO or CD`s first, here you can try Elementry OS without having to wipe your system. You can also install Boxes and then run the live iso in a VM. Enjoy your time with them.

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Anyone trying SparkyLinux? They have a couple version. I reading working on old machines also is lightweight.

I also wanted to use Elementary OS once...I would like to know what's wrong with it? :thinking:

It's just way too controlling for my tastes. They believe that the user should have No Control over the desktop.
To give an example, Elementary comes with No Tweak Tool, at all. You cannot modify the appearance and settings.
An independent developer created a tweak tool for Elementary - and you should have heard the wrathful vitriol the Elementary devs launched at him.

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Elementary is focused only on flatpak packages. They working mostly like POP OS focused on Elementary distribution and creating own best solutions. Zorin could also going a way with Zorin like a card menu where we can choose many options before installing and choose a fork gnome,xfce,lxqt and many another options. Version next Zorin is like a new car with a new colour.

I've tried SparkyLinux in the past and Liked it - it comes with a multitude of DE's but enlightment is buggy - only the E-live developer manges to get Enlightenment DE working stably from experience. I left Sparky behind because of SystemD dependency and Pulse Audio.
Give Devuan 4 (Chimaera) a try - they have live versions and one of the few distributions that still supports 32-bit architecture - so don't throw that old x-386 computer in the E-recycling!

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You are tempting me to try out devuan. I may as well switch to devuan from fedora. Though not anytime soon.

I wondering about Sparky Linux it comes new version in may this year. Maybe this working better? You know why I have still installed Zorin and don't tried another DE? Because everything what i need there is working. Ok some games are not perfectly.
When installing a games on Steam i get information installing MIcrosoft Directx.

I only use Linux games on Linux. If I want to run old Windows games I have I will run on Off-line old Windows machines! :wink:
I've still not completed any Wing Commander games! I have original on Amiga and CD 32. Missed out on Wing Commander 2 - should have got it when I saw it cheap! Wing Commander III, Wing Commander IV and Wing Commander Prophecy. That's a lot to get through and to see if my old joystick is still working! My other favourites are mainly car driving games with Fanatec MonteCarlo steering wheel - (Automatic, no gear shift).

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I was in between Pop OS and Zorin, but I cam back to Zorin because it "just works". I have been spending too much time trying to set up Pop on my system. The Bluetooth wouldn't work, I have to manually switch between headphones and speakers, and while I did enjoy customizing the look and feel, the trade off isn't worth it to me.

Once I reinstall Zorin, I spent less time tweaking the system and more time actually using it.

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Zorin have one good function. Automatically installing .msi and .exe files.

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