Moving from Windows to Zorin 16 was so intuitive, but I am not having the same smooth upgrade experience moving from 16-17. so maybe someone can help with a few things....
My main gripe: accessing panel (taskbar) settings only seems available with the first 'Zorin Appearance' layout. So how do I adjust panel settings if I'm not using that theme ???? Also content of the panel's Zorin menu is vastly abridged, under certain layouts. How do I bring back the full menu I used to enjoy under all layouts ?
I used to use the more feature-rich Plank as an alternative to Zorin Dash, but it seems that is no longer possible with the xcfe desktop environment. Is that correct or am I missing something ? I installed it in Terminal, but it won't run in 17. (please say there is a fix)
Multiple workspaces are nice, and the implementation is sexy, but I really am thinking of moving back to 16 where my preferred desktop just works out of the box and I never had to hunt for settings. Growing pains, I know, but this is a first with Zorin.
Sorry you are having issues. I am confused. You mentioned Xfce.
Which version were you on originally, Zorin 16.3 Core or Pro (GNOME desktop) or Zorin 16.3 Lite or Lite Pro (Xfce desktop)?
The reason I ask is the Plank will work on Xfce but I don't think it will work on GNOME. Did you upgrade from Zorin 16.3 Lite (Xfce) to Zorin 17 Core (GNOME)? Those are two different desktops entirely. If so, Zorin 17 Lite is not out yet.
Plank works perfectly in Zorin 17 (Gnome), but only on Xorg, not on Wayland.
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is there a hardware reason that the 17 installer gave me Wayland intead of Xorg and can I change that (sorry, you're dealing with a neophite)
on the computer that I am making inquiries about, I upgraded from 16.3 Pro to 17. (I also have a couple Pro 16.3 Light installs on older Core 2 duo systems). That (along with my relative newbie status) may have caused the confusion. The desktop environment on this computer is Wayland.
While you are typing your password, there is a gear symbol in the bottom right where you can switch to Xorg.
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Welcome To the Forum!
If You use the Extension Manager on Gnome You can go in the List and Click on the Gear Icon for the Settings:
The Menu depends on the Layout. If You want a more ... free customizable Menu and Taskbar I can recommend the Gnome Extensions Dash To Panel and Arcmenu.
Just to clarify a few points:
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Wayland is the default display protocol with the GNOME version of Zorin. You can switch to X-11 too at the log-in screen. I think Zorin Lite (Xfce) is still X-11 but I am not sure because I don't use Xfce.
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The "desktop environments" refer to things like KDE Plasma, GNOME, MATE, Xfce, LXQT, LMDE, or Cinnamon. (There may be a few more but I can't remember now.) Zorin Core and Zorin Pro are GNOME. Zorin Lite and Zorin Lite Pro are Xfce.
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A lot of the changes in Zorin were not done by the Zorin team. They are done by the GNOME developers or Xfce developers upstream from the distribution. Xfce has few updates than GNOME and moves slower.
I write all this down since you are new to Linux so you understand some of the nuances of GNU/Linux and the collaboration between the distribution developers like Zorin, Mint or Ubuntu versus the desktop developers like GNOME, Xfce, or KDE. It took me a while to latch onto those differences when I started out.
The Mint developers also developed the Cinnamon desktop which is used on other distributions. But they make it a bit better in their own Mint Cinnamon distribution. The Mint developers also were instrumental in helping develop the MATE desktop.
Zorin shines because they tweak the GNOME desktop and Xfce desktop significantly to make it almost their own mostly through custom extensions. With that said, it is still a GNOME desktop first or Xfce desktop first depending on what version you are using. Many of the changes incorporated into those desktops come from the primary developers.
Hope this makes sense and helps with your Linux journey. Cheers!
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