I have just updated to Zorin OS Pro 17 and the following has already occurred several times to me: the screensaver is running, the screen is black and the screen has been locked. You move the mouse, you shortly see the login screen, you see a flash (it looks like the logout that kills all open programs), you see the login screen again and all programs have been killed after logging in. Has anyone else experienced this? The workaround for now is to disable the automatic screen lock and to not use screen lock.
Something has improved over the last weeks. What happens now is that I do get the login screen after moving the mouse. After entering my password I shortly see the running programs, then I see a flash and I am back at the login screen again. I enter my password again and the screen unlocks. The programs have not been killed and are still running. That you have to enter your password twice is of course annoying.
This sounds like both Screen-saver and Hibernate are both enabled, resulting in needing to unlock each program before logging in. This issue may relate to this thread, as well.
Which screensaver are you using and how did you disable Screen Lock?
As the programs are longer killed I am using the following settings in Settings->Privacy->Screen:
Black Screen Delay: 5 min
Automatic Screen Lock: enabled
Automatic Screen Lock Delay: Screen Turns Off
Lock Screen on Suspend: enabled
Show Notifications on Lock Screen: enabled
Just the nature of software; it can take some time to research and resolve issues. I cannot speculate as to how long it will take to look into and determine a course of action for this.
It's very hard to say what changes and developments may lead to in the future.
At present, the ZorinGroup has directly stated that they have no intention of switching to KDE/Plasma.
Users can install different desktop environments on Zorin OS (which I often do).
Zorin OS is intended to help users find a stable, reliable and usable desktop that provides familiarity and easy learning of GnuLinux.
In the past, Zorin OS Lite used the LXDE desktop environment, not XFCE.
Certain developmental influences can alter which D.E. Zorin OS provides as a base.
However, LXDE faded from support whereas Gnome and XFCE enjoy long term stable support.
Many users (self included) have a lot of reservations about the direction of Gnome. It is important to note that the ZorinGroup uses Gnome as a base, upon which they then build the Zorin Desktop, including many extensions and scripts that add functionality, user friendly interfaces and features lacking in Gnome.
Should Gnome persist in "The Gnome Way" and abolish the use of extensions with something similar to how LibAdwaita sought to lock out distro and user customizations, then it may well be that the ZorinGroup will need to turn to another base desktop environment.