Would you pay USD $2.60 per Month for your operating system?
That is less than you spend each month on Junk food. And the junk food is not even as useful.
When we take a Hard look at some of the Big n' Free products out there from Firefox, Google, Amazon or Microsoft, we see that free is not free.
When you install Microsoft Windows - you pay for it. They have just done away with the initial bill. And when you buy a computer with Windows pre-installed, you pay dearly for it. Because the manufacturer or dealer charges you for the copy of MS Windows and License at a high markup, the Installation fee and servicing.
Money is being used and it must come from somewhere.
From target market advertising to spyware to selling your data.
Being able to breathe a sigh of relief and get away from all that is beyond price. Or is it?
For the approximate amount of two and a half US Dollars per month - you can spend far, far less on a Solid Operating System.
I want to be clear: I am just a member of this forum. I am not a member of the ZorinGroup, a developer nor do I speak for them.
As a member of the World, I do know that when you buy cheap, you get cheap results and you Spend More. You spend more because cheap breaks faster or even does not work at all and you must buy again.
Each Release of Zorin OS is not an upgrade. It is a New Release. The Next in the line. You would not buy a car one year and then when the Latest New Release Model is introduced, demand it for free or discounted just because you bought a car once, would you? You understand that you still must Pay For the New Release. If your employer decided to not pay your wages because he already paid you once, would you consider that fair and reasonable?
The Zorin Group is continuously working on Zorin OS. From maintaining and updating the current release to work on the Next Release.
By choosing Zorin OS Pro, you make this possible.
Let's not forget the projects that ZorinOS depends upon. If it's something you can budget, I would also suggest contributing to some of your favorite projects that Zorin benefits from (like XFCE, Gnome, Debian, LibreOffice, GIMP, just to name a few). Support for them is just as important, as without them, there'd be no ZorinOS.
So, if you have the means, I'd say think about sending a little something their way, every so often too.
I am not the OP but in my case it said to request a free download link to Zorin OS Pro 16 for 15.3 users unless I read it wrong. Also since I purchased at 15.3 and this is the only major update I would think 16 would be free. I would be happy to pay but I think if regular major releases are going to cost $40 even for regular users is a bit much. May I suggest that there is a regular user license fee and a first time user fee. Like $40 for first download but next major release is $20 and as long as you continue to use Zorin all future upgrades are only $20. Just an idea.
I believe the O.P. in that thread still needs his concerns and issue addressed - That users are getting the Wrong Release Version Download Link for Z16 Pro.
I think that this is a reasonable point of view. Some users opt to skip a "Pro" release in between major version releases. For example, they will choose Zorin OS 12 Ultimate (now Pro) and then use Zorin OS 15 Core. Then will choose Zorin OS 16 Pro, but will use Zorin OS 17 Core.
These are not required purchases, they are a Choice - one motivated by a desire to ensure that the Zorin Project keeps going. It is great to have such a choice, where you can use the same performance and support for free if you would like to (By using Core or Lite).
Core is the full version. The only thing missing is the mac and win11 layouts and the preinstalled programs, which can be downloaded and installed for free. The purpose of paying is for paid support and to support the project.
You don't buy a new car and expect the next years version for free, do you?
Windows offers the free upgrades because you end up paying for storage or services used with the operating system. They are more focused on services now than os. That's also why it's half baked and buggy. If you believe you are owed this, maybe you should stick with windows.
Windows is a multi-billion dollar company that utilizes a large number of Target Market Advertising schemes and personal Data mining in order to make money- so they can use the "google" approach: Offer a "free" product that brings people in to mine.
Zorin OS is developed by Two people. Astounding as the OS is, it really is assembled by just two people. They do rely on a lot of Open Source code; that is what makes Linux a phenomenon. But they work on Zorin OS full time.
There is no personal information mining, selling or sharing.
There is no spyware
There are no third party ads
Coming from Windows, it is easy to lose the comparison. It is, after-all, what you are used to. You don't walk into the Microsoft Headquarters every day or anything.
I am very grateful to the two developers. I was not complaining but suggesting a way that would encourage users to give a steady stream of support by offering a discount for regular users.
You have not come across as complaining at all - you are raising valid points.
It can be moreso for those that purchased Zorin OS 15 Ultimate a week before Zorin OS 16 Pro was released- because they did not know that 16 was due out.
And it is important they be helped, too (Which ZorinGroup has enacted a plan for).
Aravisian, where do you get this figure from? It equates to US$31.20
I think Zorin charge US $39 for the Pro version. Unless you're British, in which case you pay UK £39 (equates to US $53.55 at todays exchange rate). Then you have VAT @20% on top of that, so that's UK £46.80 which equates to US $63.27 in total.
I don't mind in the least paying this for a superb operating system like Zorin and am actually keen to support them in this way.
What annoys me is that I pay more, as Brit, than an American. Quite a bit more. It's US $39 or UK £39 and they are quite different amounts for the same product, written in Ireland......
Now that is definitely one thing that needs to be sorted out. It's not justified in any way or at least that I could make any reasonable sense of.
It is based on the average release cycle of Zorin OS which is approximately 16-18 months. My estimate did not include Taxes as that is a huge variable and I'm not touching it.
I think that price difference is a generally valid point. Part of the trouble may be the exchange rate fluctuations, causing the "easy" approach of levelling it.
I hear you but in today's age it isn't a big stretch for 2 x highly skilled programmers to set a price in Euro's (because they are domiciled in Ireland) and then upon payment they use the Mid Market ForEx rate for your particularly currency and convert it to Euro's automatically. Happens all over.
The tax part is country dependent and that's fair enough, I also don't mind paying my taxes so long as they are fair and proportionate.
Why not shoot them a PM covering this point? It's not unreasonable and though busy, for sure, they can still see the message and make a note to examine it when they have time. I see no harm in it.
