I would like to preface this post with a disclaimer. I love Zorin OS. It was my first daily driver Linux distro and it is my number one Linux distro recommendation for newcomers and non-tech savvy people. I have actually reached out to the Zorin OS developers before about updating to an Ubuntu 20.04 base and they replied very quickly. They are amazing and I think the project they are working on is really good.
That said, there are, in my opinion, a few things that hold the experience back.
Half of the layouts are locked behind a paywall.
I acknowledge that Zorin OS 16 Pro is a major part of how the Zorin OS team can continue to work on Zorin. I think it is a good idea for monetization. However, layouts should be independent of this. I am aware that the same look can be achieved by manually configuring the GNOME extensions, but I feel like new users won't be doing this. If someone is coming from macOS and for whatever reason aren't willing to pay 40 bucks for the Pro version, they will have a much worse experience. In addition, the presentation is slightly misleading: the non-availability of the additional layouts on Zorin OS Core is not extremely visible. I think that the monetization model should be based on support, a business model proven to be robust by the likes of Red Hat and Ubuntu. I think all 4 exclusive layouts, or at the very least the macOS layout, should be added to the Core version.
The GTK themes either too bright or too dark
I find default GTK themes provided in Zorin OS, which I absolutely love otherwise, to be situated on the extremes. The light mode is too bright to use comfortably, and the dark mode obscures boundaries between apps because of low contrast. I would love for the themes to be tweaked somewhat. Personally, I think Pop OS mostly nails the lightness and darkness of their themes. Apparently, I'm not the only one who's noticed this: Zorin OS Lite: Pros and Cons - YouTube
In addition, the dark themes with accents tint the entire screen, which, unless using the blue accent, looks pretty bad in my opinion.
Zorin OS Pro is bloated
I think the idea to pre-install professional applications is a good one, I think, but the execution is a little bit flawed. No one is going to want every single one of those applications. I think if you gave the choice of some different professional workflows, like photo, music, video, CAD, development, etc., that might make it that little bit better.
Update
Thanks guys for all the feedback. I understand that this post was entirely my subjective opinion. In addition, after your comments, I understand better where the Zorin team is coming from in doing some of these things that aren't exactly what I wanted. I wholeheartedly agree that it is impossible to please everyone, that they should not even try, and that they have the final authority on what they do with their distro. However, I also think that user feedback should be valued and taken into consideration.
I would like to clarify a few of my points in this post. I have now seen that creating a Pro version with some features that are paid for is probably a better and easier idea than just selling support alone. Ultimately, I still wish it was just support, but I definitely understand that we live in an imperfect world (surprise!) and the Zorin team has their work cut out for them in continuing development full-time. My only concern is the usability for new users. If someone is coming from macOS, are they going to find it difficult to use the Core version. Personally, I have had very little experience with macOS and do not know that the new user UX for Zorin Core is when coming from it, so I'd love to hear you guys' thoughts. As it stands, I'm not sure if I should be recommending Zorin OS Core to macOS users. As far as the GTK themes, I think maybe a poll would be appropriate to gauge general user satisfaction with the themes (although if we put it on this forum it would be somewhat biased towards liking the themes because if someone were repulsed by them, they would be less likely to join the forum). Again, I understand that the theming is especially subjective, and I realize that there are people on both sides of the issue (of course). My stance on the pre-installed apps is still relatively unchanged. I believe that there should be an option to decide which apps (especially professional apps) are installed, seeing as they take a good amount of space both on the ISO and the final installation. Either that, or just decrease the amount of pre-installed apps. I can't find it now, but somewhere on the Infinitely Galactic Youtube channel he has similar feedback, so I know its not just me. Anyway, thanks everyone for the likes, I was absolutely floored. You guys are awesome.
