The Road to Zorin 16

@Aravisian "witchcraft" Sounds like good witchcraft though, not the sort needed to fix sound on Z15. Is alsa still included or just pulse?
@337harvey, Good to hear after a full install that not much is missing and that performance is very good. Sounds pretty tidy for an Alpha version.

Keep writing up omissions and defects for devs to read.

Yes.

I decided to test some gaming on it. So I installed Steam, enabled Steam Proton in the settings. Grabbed a game for $2.99 (Which Steam demands all payments in $5 increments- a bit of sneakiness I hate and is why I Never Used Steam before... And tried to run it to test.
It won't. I hit "play" - the screen flashes black for a second and then I end up right back at the window that has the play button in it.
No error shown. No log I can find.
I hate Steam.

This may or may not be Steams fault though, you are running an Alpha version of OS, which probably lacks a lot of files needed. I don't know which game you tried to run. And keep in mind, games require your Nvidia driver to run properly.

I'm guessing the OS is just too lite right now and it needs much more polishing. And that will happen of course, just takes time, and it sounds like the Zorin team are on it.

in Z16, is Windows App Support included in Software. If so, which version of Wine is provided with that?
Windows App Support I have on Z15.3Core only has Wine 4.0.3.

Sooooo, Aravisian's a gamer now. I knew he'd finally cave.

Well he's not a gamer yet, he hasn't even got a game to load up yet. Thats like saying, hey, I bought a bunch of farm equipment, I'm a farmer now. Have you planted a crop yet? Well no I haven't done that yet. LMAO :joy:

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Yes, I just looked and it is listed as Windows App Support - WIne Version 5.0 and POL.

Nope. I also just tried updating and installing Wine (I dunno... All new stuff to me) and nothing. You hit the button, that window closes, screen flashes black for a moment... then it reverts to the start again. No errors, no logs, nothing.
I think my solution will probably to wipe Steam off my computer completely with a double one-finger salute and never allow it near my machine again.

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@337harvey That was indeed true on Z15Core. Wine (i.e. Windows App Support) was not included out of the box, for good reason. But Windows App Support was available to install from Software Store. I just wondered what was listed in Software Store in Z16 version. @Aravisian has answered that question. I would not install Wine (WAS) for the hell of it, unless you really need to run Windows apps. I hope the later versions of Wine and POL perform a little better.

It appears I was wrong on this.
The individual color and background settins are offered when you are on the "Zorin" option under Themes.
Click the button for "other" and you are presented with Drop Down menus for Controls, Gnome-shell and icons.

The CLI app "mlocate" (to use the locate command) was not pre-installed and needed to be installed with

sudo apt install mlocate

in the alpha unstable testing Zorin OS 16.

Welp, I finally got my grubby little hands all over Zorin OS 16 (Alpha 2) and my first impressions are: "What the hell is this?!"

Seriously guys, are you trying to make a Mac clone?! Here's some screenshots of design gone wrong:

Gradients: They don't work in this theme and it looks tacky AF.
no

Radio buttons: Is this supposed to be a macOS clone?
no 2.0

Titlebars: Do I even have to ask? I hate the macOS-style "Week, Month, Year" buttons. They're not consistent with the 15 theme. Plus the rounded window controls look horrible.

Info banners: facepalms
no 4.0

Final thoughts: Keep the 15 theme and don't make such drastic and horrible changes. We want Zorin to be its own thing, not the outcome if Zorin and macOS had a baby. I'd much prefer a Zorin theme with the 15 icons and 15 theme, just without as many border lines and having the option to disable window tint (seriously, red looks terrible).

I do not recall ever really using the Zorin OS themes (Or Icon sets). Themes and appearance are very subjective and really a matter of taste. I bet that the looks I prefer on the machine would easily be criticized by many.
I also do not like the Mac OS look.

When it comes to themes, you have many choices available. Or, you can make your own.

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Interesting!

In the PM that I received from Azorin, which included info about Zorin OS 16, he claimed that his ultimate approach, is to make the OS look more like Windows 10. This alone makes me face palm.

When you have a look at Windows 10, its nothing but 2-dimensional windows and titlebars, it looks like garbage. What happened to the days of Windows XP where you had wonderful bubbly and colorful windows and titlebars?

Even in Windows 7, we still had nice bubbly and more glossy windows and titlebars, it was a pleasurable OS to use, both in form, and in function. So I have to ask....

How is making OS16 to look more like Windows 10 a good thing? Give me bubbly and glossy and colorful, and 3-dimensional any day. When I saw that Zorin OS changed its logo from 3D to 2D, I knew something was up.

I think that the Zorin developers have lost sight of what they used to do, and have gone for the wrong approach. Which further strengthens my opinion, that POP OS is the way to go.

Of course there are many other distro's you could go with, but POP OS seems to be the proper choice for modern gaming computers. So ya.

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Logan, quit messin around and tell us how you really feel.

Thing of it is, I would never place my reliance on the OS based on what theme comes with it. Straight up. I realize Zorin OS is intended to appeal to an audience coming from Windows and Mac and it is introductory for their journey into Linux.
Windows 10 and Zorin OS both go for the "Sleek, Modern Look." I am utterly unimpressed by it. I think the trending modern look looks terrible and I often wonder if it really is trendy or if it's just what we are being told to like. And many people just go along with it, either apathetic to it or tolerating it.
The Modern trend is Flat Pasty Icons. I absolutely hate Flat Icons.
I HATE paper icon set. I wish I could burn it.
Many people voice that they really love the Look of Zorin. Well, that is a fine thing- we have different tastes. The beauty of Linux is the Control I have over that. They can have their flat paper icons and pasty pastel colored themes- I make my own or download what I do like from the web.

One at a time:

I disagree. I admit, it confused me at first, but then I found the "Other" button where you can select your own preferred theme. Aside from that, the Zorin Theme dialog is as simple as Choose Two Colors. I can see that may be an improvement. Maybe some won't think much of it- but a disaster? I can not see how it is disastrous.

Again, I do not agree. The Gnome panel that comes default has long been needing this kind of improvement. To finally be able to right click the Gnome Panel and adjust the settings is long over due. Being a fork of Open Source is what FOSS is all about. Can it stand improvement? Probably, I do not know. I do not use Gnome so I only gave it a pretty mild once-over. What I do know is that "right click settings" on Gnome Panel is a Big Huge Improvement.

Now, it is plainly seen on this forum where I have been harsh and critical in my feedback to ZorinGroup. I play no favorites. But I also prefer to stay fair, too. If I see wrong, I say I see wrong. If I see right, I say I see right.

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Makes sense. I guess I was unimpressed so much I just decided to mindlessly rant.

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I get that, but if I'm going to be using software in a professional enviroment I need to make sure my software doesn't look unprofessional. That's what I liked about 15. Not so much with 16, but I do definitely get your point.

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Hey Logant!

Do me a favor will you, go to POP OS's website. Download the version of POP OS you want. Make sure to double check the SHA256 checksum for file integrity.

Burn the ISO to your USB stick using Etcher, or whatever ISO burner that you prefer to use. Try POP OS out in LIVE mode for awhile.

And, or, if you like it so much, install it, and try it to its fullest capacity. Then, once your satisfied that you've tried it out long enough, please come back to this forum

Make a thread in the off topic lounge, and tell us all what you think of it. I've already shared my opinions of it based off LIVE mode try only.

But I'd like to hear what you think it detail. :wink:

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Well, as you said- you can use your Zorin 15 themes on Zorin 16. I admit, I will probably do the same with the Plymouth. I like the Zorin 15 Plymouth. But the Zorin 16 Plymouth looks like a cross between Zorin 12 and Zorin 15. It's ok... But not as impressive looking as Zorin 15's Splash screen is.

But for me, the clincher was how fast Zorin 16 is compared to both Ubuntu 20.04 (upon which it is based) and Ubuntu 21.04. Zorin is much faster. The Performance of it is just killer. I can theme it out however, but that speedy OS is what makes me certain I will be using it after-all.

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Zorin OS Tour - Office Introduction lists the Office suites as "comatible" with Microsoft documents.

Don't get your hopes up. There is plenty about Zorin 15 Gnome that I still have not learned. When Zorin 16 is released, we may all spend time learning the system just so we even can answer basic questions.
And we all know that no matter what, plenty of threads will be started that "Wifi adapter does not work" and "sound does not work." Without those two primary issues, the Universe would implode.

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