An experienced linux user (not me lol) would do a CLI Arch Linux install with only required stuff and the lightest DE and WM available.
As with Arch Linux one can build the system from scratch as needed.
Is Zorin OS Lite just core with XFCE instead of GNOME or are there other optimizations/limitations to make it lighter ?
This is a good question!
I'd like to know that!
My favorite DE is XFCE with no doubt. I like KDE as well.
But XFCE FTW.
GNOME is all eye candy eating resources. It looks great but at HDW expense.
I don't care much about looks.
That's a good one!
Bodhi Linux:
Mabox:
Are also good.
No, I would not say that Zorin OS Lite is Core with XFCE instead of Gnome. Using a different Desktop Environment necessitates a bit of tweaking to ensure that everything meshes and provides a good user experience.
One example of this that a user can quickly look at is Zorin Layouts in Lite as opposed to Core.
Zorin OS Lite is optimized for speed and resource preservation which can provide a better experience on older hardware as much as it can on shiny new hardware.
I am very happy and content with Zorin and Mint's LMDE. If I liked Xfce, I think I would prefer Mint's Xfce or Linux Lite. MX Linux Xfce is solid too but I like that Mint has an upgrade path. So many choices! I am looking forward in the next few months to see what System76 does with their COSMIC desktop using Rust when the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS gets release in April. I am still a fan of their current version of COSMIC and what they are doing looks promising.
So nice to have Zorin, I have run many distros in the past years, including MX, mint, fedora, ubuntu, xubuntu, lubundu, Bodhi... Zorin is the best for me on T410 and VM, perfer xfce because of the low profile.
- perfect set of software installed/configured, no more no less, simple install and done
- least bugs, some distro with bugs existing for years and no fix, but Zorin is fine
- least resource used with modern design, perfect balanced.
Cant wait for 17 Lite release.
For now, I just installed Zorin 17 Core on 14 yo T410 i5 build in video card 8G ram, feel smooth.
For sure Zorin is solid. I used to use Solus on an old Toshiba Satellite laptop using MATE primarily but also using KDE. Solus has improved after some problems for a few years. They just released a Beta version of Xfce which surprised me-it looks fantastic and seems exceptionally fast from my observation. I may consider trying out their KDE or GNOME versions and using it again as a daily driver. But, the nice part of Zorin is you know it will work just like Mint and that sense of confidence in your distribution of choice is priceless.
IMO nothing beats the balance of XFCE on old hardware.
The only thing that comes close is KDE.
Sure there's is LXQt (LXDE is basically old) but XFCE brings more to the table and it's the same across all distros.
It's my go to DE and I don't have to think about it.
For more current, you can use LXDE-GTK3 which I actually liked, but prefer XFCE to and it's pretty equal with Mate.
Isn't LXQt suppose to replace LXDE?
No, LXQT is a variant of LXDE using the Qt / KDE environment instead of the GTK environment.
Any info on when Zorin 17 Lite is coming out?
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Hello:
Considering the time they took to release Zorin Os Lite 16, they should release it during April or May 2024, but this is pure speculation.
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If you are in a hurry for Zorin Lite which is based on Xfce, Linux Mint’s Xfce is a good alternative. Or Linux Lite or MX Linux. Solus recently came out with a good version of Xfce too in beta. Despite my being a fan of Solus from the past, they have had issues so I am still on the sidelines. But I might be willing to install their Xfce version soon just to try it out again.
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Any news on 17 Lite? My desktop struggles with core.
Use 16.3 Lite since it may be a while. You will still have some of the newer software that is back-ported by Zorin and you have Flatpaks and Snaps for other software. Then when ZOS 17 Lite comes out and after the upgrade too comes out, you can upgrade. Or you can do a fresh installation. Up to you.
I can't give you an answer as to when ZOS 17 Lite will come out but it seems it will take from a few weeks to a few months. That is why I say just install the 16.3 Lite version which is still very much current and supported. Xfce has not changed much so I can't see big changes in ZOS 17 Lite but I am sure there will be all the special sauce that Zorin puts into their distributions.
I have mentioned other similar distributions ranging from antiX to MX Linux to Linux Mint Xfce to Linux Lite. I have read a lot of Bodhi Linux being very light on resources but have never used it.
Good luck!
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So I just spent an hour setting up 16.3 Lite. Much more snappier on my banana of an old machine. Hope 17 Lite is released soon and it is just as good as 16. 
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Basically i found this link Getting Zorin OS Lite - Zorin Help
and I see the work of zorin 17.1 lite has started and you cab download the system from this link but i don't think that it is stable, but you can test it by yourself.