Out of curiosity, will it be possible to do an in-place upgrade of Zorin 17 Pro to Zorin 18 Core? If so, what will happen with the Pro products? If not, is there any way to downgrade?
I'd like to spend some time with the Zorin 18 core product before pulling the trigger to pay for an upgrade to 18 Pro again.
Unfortunately, this is not possible, only with a fresh installation of Zorin 18 core.
That is not possible. But You could install Zorin 18 Core beneath Zorin 17 Pro as Dual-Boot and so test it if it fits to Your Needs.
Ugh … I’ve got docker containers and websites that are going to be tricky to reinstall on a clean system so this is going to be a problem. I'd really prefer we didn't have the stratified system that Windows has.
It would be really convenient if there was some manual way of downgrading to avoid this. Given how Linux is organised, I'd be surprised if this wasn't the case. The kernel is essentially the same and it is just the additional packages that make the difference, surely?
Zorin OS 17 is still supported, until 2027. There's enough time to plan a transition towards Zorin OS 18 without losing anything.
I agree there should be an easier way to downgrade from Pro. In fact, I was under the impression this was already possible. But this is more a "Zorin OS thing" rather than a "Linux thing". Definitely something to improve for future versions.
But, it's also an opportunity to revise your backup strategy. At least, that's how I see it. It's a good excuse to check on something that you might have set up months or years ago.