While I was looking around for some review of recent linux distribution I found this nice blog: http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.it/ it’s a blog dedicated to Linux Distro review and for what I’ve read the articles are really well made and accurate, so in short take a look at this great blog by arindam sen.

Here I’ve republished his last article by Zorin OS, a good distribution that I suggest to people that try for the first time Linux.

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Zorin OS has a lot of takers in the new Linux converts from Windows. Recently, Zorin OS released it’s 9th version based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS with 5 years of support. For users who are familiar with Zorin, the release notes states of some incremental improvements over it’s predecessors, namely:

“We are excited to announce the release of Zorin OS 9 Core and Ultimate. The main focus for Zorin OS 9 has been on stability and the refinement of Zorin OS’ wide array of incredible features. Firstly, Zorin OS 9 includes a myriad of updated software and bug fixes to ensure that your computer runs better than ever. New applications such as the Firefox web browser and Rhythmbox music player have also been included in this release. EFI boot support has been added, making it easier to get Zorin OS on newer computers (64-bit only). In addition, we have introduced a new Blue desktop theme to the Zorin Theme Changer in complement to the Light and Dark themes. As Zorin OS 9 is based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS you can expect to receive continuous software updates until 2019.”

From Zorin OS 9 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in For this review, I download the 64-bit Zorin OS 9 Core ISO (1.4 GB in size), which is the free version of Zorin. It ships with Zorin’s tweaked GNOME 3.10.4 desktop, resembling Windows 7 and Linux kernel 3.13.0. Files 3.10.4 is the default file manager.

I created a live USB using Unetbootin in Windows 8.1 on a 4 GB USB drive and did a live boot followed by installation on a 20 GB partition.

Hardware Used for Review

I left my favorite laptop in India (as it is a bit bulky) and came to Chicago with a lightweight Asus X200CA laptop with 1.8 Ghz Intel Core i3 3217U CPU, 4 GB DDR3 RAM and touch screen. I used this machine for this review.

Installation

I already configured my machine for Secure boot and UEFI to install Ubuntu 14.04 LTS previously . So, for Zorin OS 9, I didn’t have to do all these things. Installation was simple and in easy step by step approach as shown below. It took about 10 min to install and get Zorin running on my laptop. Unfortunately I forgot to save the screenshots taken this time. However, the process didn’t change significantly from Zorin OS 8 installation. Hence, what you see below are the Zorin OS 8 installation screenshots.

Bottomline: Very easy installation process

Score for Installation: 10/10

Hardware Recognition

Zorin OS 9 worked as good as Ubuntu to recognize screen resolution, touch pad configuration, WIFI, LAN, sound card, etc. Even it supported touch screen as good as Ubuntu and I had an enjoyable experience with Zorin on this laptop with touch screen. Everything worked as expected without any manual intervention.

Bottom line: Support touchscreen and modern hardware

Score for Hardware Recognition: 10/10

It is good to see Firefox in Zorin – I like Firefox for it’s enhanced security over other browsers. The default search page (with Google search engine) is quite stunning I must say! Multimedia codecs and Adobe flash plugin are pre-installed in Zorin to help new users enjoy multimedia (online and offline) even on live boot.

Most of the applications, like a good office suite, desktop sharing, email client, image viewer and editor, image sharing options, CD/DVD writer, webcam support, video editor, multimedia players, backup options, etc. are pre-installed in Zorin and would save considerable time and effort of the new users who most often get lost in deciding which packages to install.

Additionally, Zorin specific apps like Zorin web browser manager, among others, is there to choose and download a whole lot of browsers for multiple login and multi-tasking. Personally, I require multiple browsers (mostly I use Google Chrome, Chromium and Firefox) and really enjoyed this option to easy installation of Google Chrome, Opera and Midori.

Further, Wine and PlayonLinux are there for advanced users to install Windows programs like Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc. and Microsoft Office 2010 in Linux. Firewall option is there for users who prefer more security in a local area network environment.

An integrated GNOME 3 Settings manager is there to configure and customize system settings. Also, it has an Online Accounts option to connect applications to social networking accounts like Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Google, Windows Live, Yahoo! etc. among others. It is really handy if you like to post a lot of photos in Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Picasa, etc. Additionally, if you like to chat a lot, Empathy IM will automatically connect to Facebook messenger, Google hangout and Yahoo! chat.

I feel this is a healthy set of packages good enough for daily use. I would have been happier if a VoIP client (like Skype 4.3), a download manager and a torrent client been part of the package list.

Score for Pre-Installed Packages: 8/10

Repository

Zorin OS 9 sources packages from Ubuntu Trusty along with Zorin specific repositories. Additionally there are a few third party repos like Google Chrome, Opera, etc. are pre-configured.

Ubuntu Software Center is the default application to browse and install packages from the repositories. Ubuntu has a very good eco-system of applications and is perhaps the richest in the Linux world. Additionally, there is faster synaptic package manager as well for advanced users.

Generally, the issue with LTS distros is that their package list get antiquated pretty easily. To make my system more usable and to continue using the latest stable packages (remember it is an LTS and packages become antiquated within 6 months!), I installed several utility ppa’s through terminal, namely:

LibreOffice ppa: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa

GIMP ppa: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp

VLC daily build ppa: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:videolan/stable-daily

Variety wallpaper changer: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:peterlevi/ppa

Calendar and power button: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/atareao

Silverlight substitute – Pipelight: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mqchael/pipelight-daily

Webup8: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8

Wine: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa

Docky: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:docky-core/ppa

Once added, I did a system update & upgrade: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

The LibreOffice installation got upgraded to 4.2.5.2. Then I installed Calendar Indicator, VLC player, Pipelight, Wine, PlayonLinux, etc. to make my installation more usable.

$ sudo apt-get install calendar-indicator vlc pipelight playonlinux docky

Evernote is one software I use a lot and hence, added the Everpad (Linux unofficial client of Evernote) through adding the ppa:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nvbn-rm/ppa

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install everpad

To install Pipelight, add the PPA and install Pipelight using the commands below:

$ sudo apt-add-repository ppa:pipelight/stable

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install pipelight-multi

Then, install the Silverlight plugin using the following command:

$ sudo pipelight-plugin –enable silverlight

To install the Widevine plugin, use the command below:

$ sudo pipelight-plugin –enable widevin

Further, I added a few other preferred applications like:

#Google Drive Ocamlfuse, a tool that lets you mount Google Drive in Linux

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alessandro-strada/ppa

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install google-drive-ocamlfuse

Once installed, you’ll firstly need to authorize it with Google, by running the following command:

$ google-drive-ocamlfuse

Now mount Google Drive. Create a folder in your home directory, let’s call it “gdrive”:

mkdir ~/gdrive

And mount Goole Drive using the command below:

$ google-drive-ocamlfuse ~/gdrive

#Dropbox

$ sudo apt-key adv –keyserver pgp.mit.edu –recv-keys 5044912E

$ sudo sh -c ‘echo “deb http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu/ trusty main” >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/dropbox.list’

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install dropbox

In case you are missing the dropbox icon in the panel, install the libappindicator

$ sudo apt-get install libappindicator1

#Google Earth

$ wget -q -O – https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add –

$ sudo sh -c ‘echo “deb http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable main” >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google.list’

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install google-earth-stable

#Google Music

$ wget -q -O – https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add –

$ sudo sh -c ‘echo “deb http://dl.google.com/linux/musicmanager/deb/ stable main” >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google.list’

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install google-musicmanager-beta

#Google-talk

$ wget -q -O – https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add –

$ sudo sh -c ‘echo “deb http://dl.google.com/linux/talkplugin/deb/ stable main” >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google.list’

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install google-talkplugin

#Linux Mint and USB Image writer / USB stick formatter

$ sudo sh -c ‘echo “deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ qiana main” >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mint.list’

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install linuxmint-keyring

$ sudo apt-get install mintstick

#To create and read .rar archived files

$ sudo apt-get install rar urar

#To control CPU frequency and reduce laptop heat

$ sudo apt-get install indicator-cpufreq





Though document viewer works perfectly fine, but at times I require Adobe acrobat reader, especially for dynamic content. Installation of Adobe acroread is a bit tricky and I document here, what worked with me. I downloaded the AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i486linux_enu.bin file from Adobe website and put it in the home directory. I opened terminal and ran the following commands:

$ sudo chmod +x ./AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i486linux_enu.bin

$ sudo ./AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i486linux_enu.bin

Agree to whatever options it asks and once installed it is time to install 32-bit architecture, if your OS is 64-bit.

$ sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

Post installation, Adobe Acrobat Reader should work without any issue.

If you are not comfortable of hitting the terminal, there is an easier way for you – Ubuntu After Install. The complete list of applications that can be installed using Ubuntu After Install is given below:

Ubuntu Restricted Extras: video codecs and Flash Plugin

libdvdcss to enable DVD playback

Unity Tweak Tool to tweak your desktop settings

Variety is a feature rich wallpaper changer for Ubuntu

Google Chrome is arguably the best browser available

LibreOffice is the complete open source Office software replacement

Skype offers text, voice and video chat

Grive Tools will sync your Google Drive to your computer

DropBox will sync your DropBox cloud storage

VLC will play any video file you can imagine

XBMC is a complete home media center experience

Radio Tray will stream online radio to your desktop

GIMP is powerful image editing software

Darktable allows photographers to process RAW files

Inkscape is vector based illustration and graphics editor

Scribus professional quality desktop publishing software

Samba allows for windows network sharing

PDF Tools to merge, cut, append and edit PDF documents

OpenShot is a great video editor ideal for most users

Kdenlive for more advanced video editing

Handbrake to convert DVD’s and videos for mobile devices

Audacity for music and sound editing

Steam gaming platform for unlimited gaming joy on Linux

KeePass to store all your passwords securely

Shutter allows you to do easy screenshots

FileZilla for FTP file up- and downloads

p7zip adds the powerful 7zip file compression and decompression

Add the ‘Ubuntu After Install’ PPA and install it as shown below.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:thefanclub/ubuntu-after-install

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install ubuntu-after-install

Performance

Zorin OS 9 gave very good performance on my Asus X200CA with Core i3 moderately powered processor and 4 GB RAM. I could use touch functions effectively, without experiencing any laptop with multiple programs running in parallel and even after several hours of usage. I am using Zorin for last 2 weeks and the experience has been fantastic.

Zorin’s resource usage is moderate with 460 MB RAM and 0-5% CPU consumption, which is 17% higher than average GNOME or GNOME tweaked distros.

However, Zorin boots up fast (at 30 seconds on this machine) which 27% faster than average GNOME or GNOME tweaked distros.

In overall, I feel Zorin offers decent performance and it can be a preferred distro for production laptops as a replacement to Windows OS, given it’s long term support.

Score for Performance: 9/10

Overall

Though personally I don’t like Linux operating system resembling Windows (I had really bad experiences with Windows and lost a lot of data in the past at a critical phase in my student life and OS resembling Windows reminds me of the same), but I have seen Zorin OS to be quite popular among the new users, specially those who are converting from Windows to Linux. Even I used Zorin OS for sometime in the past, but once I upgraded Zorin to the next release, it became Ubuntu and all Zorin specific customization are lost. However, the recent Zorin OS release is supported for 5 years (till April 2019) and possibly you don’t need to upgrade it for quite sometime, given the customization I am recommending in this article.

Personally, after Zorin for a while, it feels like a rock solid distro with support for advanced hardware. It seems a very good option for users with low cost modern laptops with touch support with limited specs and running Windows 8 as the primary OS. The laptop on which I tested Zorin OS 9 is one of them and I personally didn’t have a pleasant experience with Windows 8.1. If you have a Windows 8 low spec laptop, surely you can try out Zorin and prepared to be surprised by the amazing speed and functionality it offers.

The present release of Zorin is at par with Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon, the best Linux distro that I used this year. This is a release you should check out definitely, if you own a touch screen laptop. You can download 32 and 64 bit versions of Zorin OS 9 from here

Final Score: 9.5/10

Breakup

Parameter Weights (%) Score Installation 20 10.0 Aesthetics 20 10.0 Hardware Recognition 20 10.0 Pre-installed Packages 10 8.0 Performance 30 9.0 Overall 100 9.5





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