What in the rumour mill is Zorin 19?

General Help
1

// Developer Style Comment to avoid a TLDR....

I have consumed and used Zorin since 201X & even made sure to purchase licenses for my father and I. As the holidays are approaching, he tells me of whispers 'o "Zorin 19 coming out soon"?

I am on 17.3 Pro and still have yet to receive a notification about upgrading and am I correct that the "Lite" version of Zorin will be dropped in release 19 (along with XFCE)?

Curious as I am invested in the success of Zorin and it taking the lion's share of the Desktop/Laptop space, but not at the expense of a lack of rolling upgrade nor the Lite versions that keep my aged hardware and VMs happy.

In the words of the over appreciated band, Weezer, "Say it ain't sooooooo!"

Look forward to the helpful (and hurtful) comments!

-ZeLfAdOiD

2

Without fail, everytime an OS version is just released, within a month, there is always someone asking when the next major version is going to drop.

Zorin OS 18 was literally just released a month ago, Zorin OS 19 is not going to happen for at least 2-years from now. (Like every major release)

Now I agree, not having Zorin OS 18-Lite released at the same time as Core & Pro, was not a good idea, but here we are. I assume the Zorin team won't have Lite ready till January. For now, please consider installing Zorin OS 18 Core, if you need a computer working right now.

Please also be aware, if you are still on Zorin OS 17, you still get official support for 2-years. With that said, there is no push to upgrade right away right now. So, with that said, you have 3 options as I see it.

(1) If still on OS 17, you can wait, your still supported!

(2) Upgrade or install OS 18 Core.

(3) Wait for OS 18 Lite to release.

Startreker Signature
Startreker Signature700×342 112 KB

5 Likes
3

@StarTreker's reply cracked me up... and does address this. Yes, Zorin 18 was only just released... and 18 Lite is is still in the works.

That said - sadly - Yes the ZorinGroup has decided to no longer offer any other Desktop than Gnome from 19 onward - Which marks my departure.
And preemptively, they currently stuffed the Lite Download link out of easy viewing.

5 Likes
4

Having used Zorin OS since Z-5, and the XFCE version since its introduction, I am very attached to the latter. I have one older desktop PC running Zorin 17.3 Pro (Gnome) and Zorin 18 Beta upgraded to Core. On the latter I have installed XFCE which gives a desktop layout rather like Apple/IOS. This is not my ideal, so installed WhiskerMenu. This was OK but really not a replacement for Zorin Desktop.
Perhaps an enthusiastic person or group could produce an XFCE fork of Zorin 19 (I don't have the skills to do this myself)? I know it is unlikely, so I keep in touch with other distros.

2 Likes
5

What are you switching to?

6

I am a strange and complex individual.

I am fed up with LibAdwaita and how GTK4 was stripped of its widgets.

I left Microsoft only to end up on Gnomes controlling version of it on GnuLinux.
So, I forked GTK4, restored the widgets Gnome removed, decoupled it from Gnome dependencies and wiped every trace of shady code-hiding LibAdwaita from it.
I'll be using my own built system. I cannot call it a distro since I am not distributing it.

6 Likes
7

Aye, I think it is time for me to walk away for a while, as well. I will maintain my father's subscription, but -- this move of boast and toast is rather unsettling as I now see myself in yet another position of needing something "stable, reliable, released on time, and keeping the old->modern hardware ethos."

Was a great run, Zorin. Test tying your shoelaces before running (next time).

ZeLfAdOiD

1 Like
8

My hopes for Zorin OS 19 which we are looking 2 years out is likely the following.

Improved GNOME tooling (currently 18 feels more restricted then 17.3 I know this is a result of GNOME's over simplification, a few more options here and there or easier configuration would be ideal.

built in WinApps/WinBoat this seems natural for 2 years from now when potentially these tools have GPU pass-through this would solve alot of Windows App Compatibility issues.

More frequent blogs, transparent updates.
Right now we don't really know what they are doing or why they are doing it, this does give them the freedom to design and create things and just focus on them but definetly shuts the rest of the community out in a way that you don't see on other platforms like Fedora.

This is why I am now posting update changelogs (so we can kind of see are updates reactive, proactive or iterative and see if a recent update helps with issues on the forums.)

1 Like
9

I havnt been in here for awhile as an update for zorin cause my mouse scroll to stop working in a game i play..I tryed for most of a day trying to solve the trouble. my solution was to clean out a 250 gb ssd and install ubuntu 24.04.3.. and all is working as it should...Thanks for the fun i had at last issue of zorin 16 to os 18 i had fun but i left windows for linux..and found what im looking for...ill pop in now and and see how things are going ta ta for now... :grin:

10

Haha. Good one. Exactly. Congrats on seeing the light.

11

Mind if I ask what you are considering going to?

12

"I cannot call it a distro since I am not distributing it."

Now that's just tantalizing. You sure? Even if others offered to help support it?

13

I would like to offer my own distribution someday - it is not where I am currently, however.
I cannot devote the time to it, which would be needed. And, I worry about how a freer and more open distro would be received in this currently "trending toward integration, being controlled and feeling like back on M.S. Windows" market...

2 Likes
14

Yeah, I can't imagine the amount of time and effort it must take to do that. I was only half serious.

But re: your comment on this market "trending toward integration, being controlled and feeling like back on M.S. Windows"

...I'm not part of that market. Now that Zorin helped me bridge the gap to commit to Linux, I have no wish to cling to a Windows "experience."

15

My sentiment, in terms of reception, is that what matters most to the largest number of (ex-Windows) users is being able to install, sit down, and do what they expect to do. Freedom from nags, spyware, and un-asked-for changes are the freedom most are after, of recent converts and those I see dabbling on second machines or dual boots at work. Freedom to select your components, while critical to you, is step 2. Or three, or five, or ten. It cannot be a concern for them until such time as they're convinced that they really CAN abandon Windows.

All this is to say that I don't think a freer distribution would be negatively received at all, provided that freedom isn't a barrier to immediate, easy use. On Zorin, I replaced my kernel and did my video drivers manually, from Nvidia's .run, because that's what I had to do for the experience I wanted. I tried to replace PulseAudio with Pipewire and got crapped on by a questionable dependency. (zorin-os-desktop. I will admit that it may be valid. I can't prove it's not. I don't feel like it SHOULD be.) I updated GCC to install Nvidia's driver by hand, and I NEEDED to update Python, but because of weirdness, the OpenSSL modules didn't compile when I tried. The whole time I've been using it, I've wanted to switch it to KDE Plasma 6. Zorin was great for sitting down and using, and got me across the line to "no more Windows," but it eventually fell apart on freedom.

I'm back to Nobara now, which offers GNOME or KDE, and isn't LTS, so its components are MUCH newer, which I want. I don't need to change anything at the system level for the experience I want, so I haven't.

If by scripting, alternative ISOs, or other means, your freer distribution can be what people need without forcing them to research or assemble what they need--that is, can give them a good out of box experience, not get in the way of the changes they want to make, and perhaps even guide them, then I don't think there's a real barrier, and I think it could be a gateway toward people learning to customize their systems. (Mainline is a great example of guiding someone on changes)

The biggest speedbump I see is probably people being used to and expecting systemd when they search for answers and it not being there.

16

I've had the most stable experience that has systemd with Q4OS Plasma 5.8, a rolling release valid 'til mid 2028. I've also played with LMDE 7 which is also a Debian based version and was able to install Plasma. I was disappointed with systemd-free PCLOS Debian based on Debian 13 "trixie" Plasma edition as it uses Plasma 6.3.6 and the Tiled Menu from zren did not work cleanly, unlike Mint so going back to PCLOS Debian Plasma "bookworm".

In terms of Audio, the best option is ALSA and use it with Audacious. Sound problems solved.

In terms of xfce, PCLOS Debian and Devuan would be my first choices, and possibly PCLOS, but the latter distro required me to downgrade my graphics card from a GT1030 to a GT440.

17

Still on MX Linux 25 XFCE. One addition I've made to my install has been Picom. It's given my desktop interface a nice flourish with simple fade-in animations for the menus and windows. For me, that is good enough. Adds a touch of modernity. Matter of fact, being on MX Linux (with its excellent suite of MX tools) has motivated me to look into programming again. The main difficulty lately has been trying to find time to focus on learning it, but I'm committed to trying. I recently tried the live ISO for LMDE 7 (with the Cinnamon 6.6 desktop), but ... nah. As for Zorin OS itself, I've moved on from it for the time being. Until @AZorin and @zorink learn from their errors and show humility through actions (e.g., better communication, issuing an actual roadmap, establishing an actual bug reporting system in which everyone can track and follow bugs, committing to much better Q&A for future releases, switching from Ubuntu to Debian, etc.), I'm afraid I won't be returning to Zorin OS (much to the delight of Arytom and Kyrill, probably - ha). The only thing that I remain a bit irritated/sad about is the fact that Zorin stands to damage more (than help) the introduction of Linux to newcomers from Windows because of all the bugs that've come with Zorin OS 18 (more so than what was in version 17). There's now two million downloads of Zorin OS 18 (remarkable), but that's two million downloads for PCs that'll likely see eye-raising bugs and whatnot, and risk turning off people from Linux. I'm a bit disappointed more people aren't seeing it that way, and aren't also seeing the true significance of a lack of humility from the Zorin Group. It sends a message about what they truly think of users.

Anyway ... yeah. Tally-ho.

1 Like
18

That's a bit overdramatic. You think automatically that everyone gets Issues. But that is far too simplistic.

Yo can have any Issues of any Kind on any Distro. And one User has it and next One not. And now blame Zorin for ''risk turning off people from Linux.'' is a bit too much. The ''This doesn't work!'' You can have on Zorin, Linux Mint, MX Linux, Fedora, Arch, whatever, too.

4 Likes
19

There'll be an increase in users who have problems and need help, to be sure. We saw the activity level on the forum jump when Zorin 18 came out. But given the one million and two million mark? Most were either not interested in solving their problems, solved them without help, or didn't have them--or the forums wouldn't simply have spiked with help requests, they'd have been flooded. And honestly, if someone with a real issue won't post to try to resolve it, they're probably going to bounce off of Linux anyway--like the users we've seen who are upset it's not a carbon copy of Windows in terms of UI.

2 Likes
20

My humble experience from a QA role for over 35 years is every system, and every OS has it's problems. In this age of instant gratification demand and "why can't you just focus on my problem" era, too many companies bow down to mob mentality to continue to go after their slice of the pie.

Apple originated an OS designed specifically to run only on their hardware. So when you go that route you are at the mercy of Apple as far as updates and applications.

Microsoft is now forcing users to bend to their will and strategy.

Linux on the other still offers a freedom of use we used to have. After all it is OUR hardware WE chose to purchase. Linux gives us that freedom. The cost? Lot's of competition to grab our usage and adoption. Everyone seems to have their own requirements which is normal. Trying to get EVERYONE's demands met only leads to a mismash of solutions that do not make anyone happy.

I've seen this all too often in the SAAS industry. Many companies make special features for different companies demands and package it all together bloating their software and bogging down a system. Then making patches because they keep breaking different features.

I selected Zorin OS because after testing I found it the bet solution to bring my 80 yr old mother from Windows into an new OS environment with little impact as I dump Microsoft from our network.

Rather than complain about features I NEED for myself I can run a different Distro that offers me what I need while setting up Zorin for my mother. It offers a Desktop she can quickly move into with little relearning. I run a Zorin Vm now for testing different things while I am looking for a distro that meets my needs. Her new system is nearly up and running.

While I have used Zorin OS for nearly 3 months solid up time with no issues, I have had to find solutions for a couple of things like perma mounting the Synology Drive. Now that I have I can complete her setup. The big issue was a kernal update that hit along with a Synology Update to their drive OS. Changed how the cifs connection worked. Things like this happen.

The ease of running certain MUST have windows apps with Zorin OS is a fantastic feature. User doesn't NEED to learn how to install and configure WINE or BOTTLES. It's just works.

As for any newer version such as 19? It will be a simple matter of spinning up a proxmox vm and testing it out first before upgrading any live system.

Overall I think Zorin has done a fantastic job and should stick to it's roadmap. I see them responding constantly to forum posts which is a good thing.

I look forward to continue using Zorin as a solution for my mother and may come back in the future if I see something I need become a feature I've wanted.

I've looked at Zorin not as a solution for hardcore Linux users or even tinkers, but more as a solution to those New to Linux coming from the MS world or even MAC.

That's just my humble input. God Bless.

5 Likes