Here are some answers to our questions as supplied by the ZorinGroup.
In regards to Firefox as a Flatpak, I will crosslink here:
In regards to Snapd not being available right away:
Has Snapd been eliminated in Zorin OS 17?
We're still shipping Snapd in Zorin OS 17. In the Beta we removed the Snap GNOME Software plugin as we found that it was causing performance issues, especially with search. During Beta testing we have found that GNOME Software 42.4 still has significant performance issues for many users, although it is definitely better than previous versions.
To resolve these issues, we recently tested and backported GNOME Software 45.2 which is the latest release that came out around 2 weeks ago. We have also backported a newer version of libadwaita (and patched it to support 3rd party themes) as it was a dependency for the new GNOME Software.
The new GNOME Software is significantly faster and we have found that the Snap plugin no longer noticeably affects performance so we are enabling it again to expand the default app selection.
I think it is very helpful to note in the above that subtle reminder that the Zorin OS 17 Beta is a Beta testing version. Thanks to the feedback received, further developments and testing; the Final Release of Zorin OS 17 may hold a more familiar look.
Speaking of the "Wow" factor; it appears we have one. In Zorin OS 17, users will be in control of and able to set their preferred application format in the Software Store.
As many of us have noted in using other distros, we can feel a bit discouraged when a software install is redirected to a format we did not wish for. Or that the format is selected for you.
With Zorin OS 17, you can re-take control over this.
The summary contains the background information which users can read. Below the summary is the Meat of the Issue that you can jump right to.
Summary
We don't explicitly prioritize one packaging format over another. Instead we want to provide our users with the widest and latest selection of apps available. One of the main reasons why we include containerized formats like Flatpak and Snap is that they provide the latest versions of apps which many users have come to expect. As APT packaging tends to provide only one version of a dependency, it's often not possible to backport the latest version of an app without breaking lots of other software in the repositories. This is also why we are quite selective with which software we backport in order to avoid system breakages. We usually only backport software if it provides significant advantages (such as performance improvements or major features) with minimal to no risk of breakages.
For example we backported GNOME Shell 43 as it had significant performance and feature improvements but only required a small number of new dependencies to be backported. Subsequent versions of GNOME Shell did not have any major advantages but required many additional dependencies that could have resulted in breakages and would have created a significant maintenance overhead.
As a result of the difficulty in backporting APT packages, many users complain about outdated APT packages for their favorite apps.
In Zorin OS we give users who want the latest versions of software the option to install it using containerized formats. Users who prefer the familiarity of APT packages will continue to have the option to do so. The preferred source can be selected in the dropdown on the app's listing page in GNOME Software.
BTW it's now possible to set the default package source priority in the new Software store for all app listings, so you can set APT/DEB to be preferred over Flatpak and Snap if that's what you wish to behavior to be. Simply enter this Terminal command, changing the order in the array value as you please:
gsettings set org.gnome.software packaging-format-preference "['deb', 'flatpak:flathub', 'flatpak', 'snap']"