For beta it's really good and stable, had no issues using it so far, looks nice and crisp and desktop performance got significant boost. Great release! Looking forward to stable release!
Starting a new thread in the Feedback sub-forum to make easy review for @staff to monitor and follow.
Please post your feedback about the Beta Version here.
There's also a dedicated form that will likely be monitored directly by the developers:
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Whilst that is true, it is good to share feedback with other forum members, and swap notes, good and bad alike.
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Yes, the Printer was picked up immediately, both its USB connection and the Wifi connection so had two Printers showing up - just had to delete the USB one, and this was in live mode. Same with LibreOffice, in Live Mode and was able to print straight off. Even the ink levels were accurate after making the printer I wanted to be the default one and also included the triangle warning sign to let me know one of the ink tanks is running on empty! The new screenshot interface is quite novel, and I can see this coming to a smartphone as the controls reminded me of what I have for Camera on my smartphone. That said it could do with a timer (I have already pointed this out to the Devs via the official feedback form. Sound is still an issue for me due to my dedicated Sound Blaster. On boot into live mode I almost deafened myself as I had the volume up too high. For some bizarre reason it thought the Sound Card was using the Digital Output [SPDIF] when it is not using that at all! When set to the Analog one with amplifier - If I change to that then use the drop down to go to 5.0 surround sound or 5.1 sound - nothing. Nice to see the cube back, and I do like the way the wallpaper background goes to dark when dark appearance is selected and Stars can be seen in the sky! I would love it to have a Zorin Security applet like PearOS did in 8:
I was hoping to try the version updater on my Zorin 15 that updated to 16.3 but I fear the drive is failing and as I write this, guess what? My fears realised, courtesy of Gnome Disks!:
Is there any information about the packages and kernel included in Zorin17? Thanks
So far i noticed good and bad things about beta:
Good: Performance is really good (better than Debian 12 with same Gnome 43), apps opening fast, animations are smooth, os startup is fast, no snaps are preinstalled and removed from software store, great kernel, default wallpaper and theme are awesome (first time in years i prefer light theme), nice that Zorin devs chose Gnome 43 over 42 (huge plus).
Bad: Software store is slow on syncing repositories (it has some memory leaks as well). Firefox comes preinstalled as a Flatpak (so not all extensions will work on it).
Other than that it's a solid release, good job Zorin Team! 
3 Likes
That is a list of all the packages, true. Generic Users are probably more interested in the Applications that are present. I am guessing they will be more populated at time of release, maybe not. So here is a list of what is currently present in Zorin 16.3 (installed) and Zorin 17 Beta (Live session):
| Zorin 16.3 (Installed) | Zorin 17 Beta (Live session) |
|---|---|
| Accessories | Accessories |
| Clocks | Clocks |
| Files | Files |
| Maps | Text Editor |
| Text Editor | Weather |
| To Do | |
| Weather | |
| Games | Games |
| AisleRiot Solitaire | None |
| Mahjongg | |
| Quadripassel | |
| Sudoku | |
| Graphics | Graphics |
| GNU Image Manipulation Program | Image Viewer |
| Image Viewer | LibreOffice Draw |
| LibreOffice Draw | Photos |
| Photos | |
| Internet | Internet |
| Firefox Web Browser | Firefox Web Browser |
| Remmina | Remmina |
| Office | Office |
| Calendar | Calendar |
| Contacts | Contacts |
| Evolution (mail client) | Evolution (mail client) |
| LibreOffice | LibreOffice |
| LibreOffice Calc | LibreOffice Calc |
| LibreOffice Draw | LibreOffice Draw |
| LibreOffice Impress | LibreOffice Impress |
| LibreOffice Writer | LibreOffice Writer |
| Sound & Video | Sound & Video |
| Brasero | Brasero |
| Cheese | Cheese |
| Rhythmbox | Rhythmbox |
| Sound Recorder | Sound Recorder |
| Videos | Videos |
| System Tools | System Tools |
| Disks | Boot Repair |
| Main Menu | Disks |
| NVIDIA X Server Settings* | Gparted (only for install) |
| Power Statistics | Install Zorin OS 17 |
| Settings | Main Menu |
| Software Updater | Mozc Setup |
| Startup Applications | Power Statistics |
| Tour | Send Feedback |
| Upgrade Zorin OS | Settings |
| Windows App Support | Software |
| Zorin Appearance | Software Updater |
| Zorin Connect | Startup Applications |
| (*If you chose to install proprietary drivers at point of install.) | Tour |
| Upgrade Zorin OS | |
| Windows App Support | |
| Zorin Appearance | |
| Zorin Connect | |
| Utilities | Utilities |
| Archive Manager | Advanced Network Configuration |
| Backups | Archive Manager |
| Calculator | Backups |
| Characters | Calculator |
| Disk Usage Analyser | Characters |
| Disks (Duplicated from System Tools.) | Disk Usage Analyser |
| Document Scanner | Disks (Duplicated from System Tools.) |
| Document Viewer | Document Scanner |
| Fonts | Document Viewer |
| Help | Fonts |
| Logs | Help |
| Password and Keys (Seahorse) | Logs |
| Screenshot | Password and Keys (Seahorse) |
| System Monitor (Task Manager) | Screenshot |
| Terminal | System Monitor (Task Manager) |
| Terminal |
6 Likes
Installed Zorin 17 beta today with no install issues on a dual boot system. I'm thank full for a newer kernel version , mesa 23 stack and 8.02 wine. Only minor issue as already posted is buggy software center. Thank you Zorin for your effort and time.
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Getting late and need my PS4 Pro fix! Will see if I can upgrade from 16.3 to 17 Beta tomorrow and also test the Software Centre. (Time for me to make an early start on the Unofficial Manual!)
Installation with Nvidia card didn't went well. I had to disable 3rd party drivers or was it live session without nvidia driver? I'm not sure as I did both and the installation went smooth.
The zorin OS desktop/DE is very responsive, nice.
Put her on my oldest Dell - 4 core i7, nvidia, 17" touch screen 1080 hd - 15 years old - father of the 4 core corporate chip - lol - still - install was smooth as silk, updated twice, added my go to apps and switched it to kde plasma and built from there. No glitches, ran a bit hotter than on the newer 6.3 kernel but everything else seems smooth. Nice install - took little time. time will tell for the rest. Internet and bluetooth are working fine...so is sound, playback, zoom, overall - nice. Timeshift should come preinstalled - still great job guys.
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Image writing and installation went without any issues, including nvidia drivers. Desktop is super smooth and snappy, even with spatial desktop activated.
Welcome window and settings window a bit buggy, sent reports.
Switching to vanilla Gnome layout from Windows like is a bit buggy, too.
Two things: I would like Firefox provided as a deb package and not preinstalled as a flatpak, and I would like snaps to be available and included in the store.
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Now my Zorin OS 17 has been running all night while I was doing stuff on it. Not a single crash. It's purring like cat 
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In respect of Firefox, whether it is for Corporates or Education it should be Firefox ESR (Extended Service Release) as it is the only version that can be locked down.
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Firefox as Flatpak would be a dealbreaker for me moving to Z17.
Question: Is Thunderbird still availablr as an apt on Z17?
That's important as I need specific extensions to work.
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OK, tried to upgrade, but forgot that this application is tied to Zorin servers/repos to establish what you can upgrade to based on existing install and has been pointed out, the Beta should not be installed on a production machine. So I will leave Zorin 16.3 as is and install 17 alongside it on the same drive.
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This is not desirable for me either. I would like to know why Firefox is installed by Flatpak.
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I think they did that, because Firefox is not in the Ubuntu repositories anymore, because they are providing it as a snap. So just implimenting it from flatpak was probably easier than setting up their own Zorin repos. Which I still wish they did. I don't want the flatpak either.
I think as many people as possible should mention that using the feedback feature. Maybe that gets them to provide a repo version, if they haven't planned it anyways for the final release.
5 Likes