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<a href="http://distrowatch.com/images/cgfjoewdlbc/zorin-small.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://distrowatch.com/images/cgfjoewdlbc/zorin-small.png" width="320" /></a></div>
 Zorin OS is an Ubuntu spin specially keeping in mind the new Linux converters from Windows. From the beginning itself it has an interface quite similar to previously Windows XP and now Windows 7 (still it gives Win XP appearance as an alternative). Zorin OS is somewhat different from other distros, as it has a commercial angle to it. It has a paid full featured version with support and a free version. In this review, I take on the latest release Zorin OS 7 Free Version. It is based on Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail) and has 6 months of support till Oct 2013. The release note states of significant improvements in design and functionalities in the latest release:     "The Zorin OS team is proud to finally release the Zorin OS 7 Core and Ultimate, the latest version of our operating system designed for Linux newcomers. Zorin OS 7 brings about a plethora of changes and improvements such as a wide array of updated software, the Linux kernel version 3.8, the introduction of new software (Pidgin replacing Empathy and Steam in Zorin OS 7 Ultimate) and an enormous design overhaul. We have given the brand a facelift with our new logo. In addition to this, Zorin OS itself includes a brand new desktop theme. Zorin OS 7 is based on Ubuntu 13.04." I downloaded the Zorin OS free edition 32-bit ISO, about 1.5 GB in size for this testing. Zorin OS 7 free edition comes with Linux kernel 3.8.0-23, just like Ubuntu 13.04 and has a heavily tweaked GNOME 3.6 desktop. I created a live USB using Unetbootin, first did a live boot followed by installation in my Asus K54C 2.2 Ghz Core i3 laptop with 2 GB RAM. Aesthetics and Hardware Recognition Zorin OS 7 has a refined desktop interface and menu which resemble Window 7. With dark blue beehive wallpaper and tweaked AWN dock below, actually I found it to be more elegant and colorful than Windows 7! I like the way the developers have tweaked the AWN dock below to create Win7 like appearance. Overall, it looks appealing and good. Refinement is evident starting from boot splash (blue Zorin icon with a white background) to the applications itself, which is really good. The Zorin dark blue beehive wallpaper gels well with the overall theme. However, if you get bored with it, Zorin has all the Ubuntu raring wallpapers as well to add variety. Further, there is no dearth of GNOME themes which you can very well try out. Even the application interfaces are tweaked to match the scheme, except Google Chrome. Chrome retains its original interface by being a third party (non-Linux) software. I like the Zorin theme except the color coding of minimize, maximize & close buttons in applications. The color choice (blue & red), I felt, is a bit juvenile and doesn't match to the professional appearance of the rest of the desktop. Apart from Win7 theme, Zorin 7 also brings in a couple of other themes: WinXP & GNOME 2. Themes can be interchanged using Zorin Look Changer. I tried both the themes but Win7 one is the best of the lot. Compiz is pre-installed in the distro and I could see a lot of effects, like desktop cube, animated opening & closing of applications, etc. pre-installed in the distro. Also, users can disable these animations from System Tools -> Preferences. The presence of compiz and pre-set settings is good for Linux novices who may find compiz to configure quite daunting initially. Also, thankfully, Zorin developers have kept options for advanced users to tweak the Zorin default theme as per their liking. There is a tweak tool provided in the Systems settings for the same. In overall, Zorin OS 7 really looks cool and is fun to use. On the second aspect - Hardware recognition is as good as any Ubuntu based distro; Wifi, LAN, touchpad, sound and screen resolution, all worked as expected without any glitch. Applications Zorin OS 7 brings to the table a really decent collection of apps which work right out of the box, viz.     Office: LibreOffice 4.0.2.2 Calc, Draw, Impress, Writer, Document viewer     Internet: Google Chrome 27 (NOT Chromium), Pidgin IM (supports msn, yahoo, facebook & gtalk among others), Thunderbird 17, Desktop sharing, Remmina Remote Desktop client and Zorin Browser Manager     Graphics: GIMP 2.8.4, Image viewer, Shotwell photo manager, Simple Scan     Multimedia: Brasero CD/DVD creator, Cheese webcam booth, Openshot video editor, Rhythmbox music player, Videos     Accessories: Archive manager, Calculator, Screenshot, Terminal, gedit     Others: Wine & PlayonLinux It is kind of refreshing to see Google Chrome to be the default browser and not Chromium. I agree that Chrome and Chromium behave alike but once Adobe flashplugin 11 support ends, future releases would only be available through Google Chrome. I found Zorin browser manager to be handy for new users. It showcases the available browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Chrome, Opera and Midori) and helps in easy installation/uninstallation of the same. I installed Firefox (version 21) using Zorin browser manager without any issue. It is a handy tool for Linux novices who may take a bit of time to get used to Ubuntu Software Center. Like other GNOME 3.6 distros, Files 3.6.3 is the default file manager and it is a very powerful one. In fact, it is possibly the closest I have seen to Windows Explorer from the Linux world, in terms of functionality. The icons in Files really look good in Zorin. Multimedia codecs and flash plugin are pre-installed in Zeven OS 7. Users can play their audio/video files and watch online videos on live boot as well as right after installation, without requiring to download any additional software. Like other GNOME 3 distros, Zorin OS 7 has an integrated settings manager, which is helpful for any newbie. Further, to install Windows based software like MS Office, Adobe photoshop, etc., Wine and PlayonLinux are provided. Please go through my article on how to install MS Office 2010 through PlayonLinux for details. From new user point of view, a ready to use Linux operating system actually helps. Zorin gets full marks for the same. Its uncomplicated interface, ready to use applications and integrated settings without good hardware recognition makes it a suitable candidate for new Linux users. Installation Installation is similar to Ubuntu and uncomplicated. It seeks user inputs for language, geographic location, hard drive location to install and user ID creation. Given below are the important steps in Zorin OS 7 installation. Repositories Zorin OS 7 sources applications from Ubuntu Raring Ringtail repositories. Ubuntu, in fact, has the richest collection of applications in the Linux world. Applications can be browsed and downloaded via Ubuntu Software Center, the front end GUI. It is definitely one of the easiest to use and highly functional - it would automatically resolve all dependencies before installing the application. Further, all apps are distributed into clear categories which is actually helpful for any Linux novice. Also, Synaptic package manager pre-installed for advanced users. For experts, the evergreen terminal is always there to download applications from the repositories. Further, there is an update manager as well for the users. It periodically checks for new updates available and notifies users of the same. Unlike Windows updater, Ubuntu/Zorin updater doesn't start downloading automatically but asks the users for permission. It is helpful as it doesn't clog the bandwidth when you require the most and you can reschedule the update to later time when the system is free. Performance Zorin OS 7, in spite of it's heavily tweaked interface and animations, is not a resource hog. I got very decent performance, about 195 MB RAM and 1-10% CPU usage with system monitor running to boot the Zorin desktop. From Zorin OS 6 to Zorin OS 7, RAM usage has come down by 33% under similar conditions. If I compare Zorin OS 7 to other 32-bit GNOME 3 tweaked distros that I've tested (including Cinnamon), Zorin is in the top 5 in terms of performance.  Zorin is very smooth to use. In fact, purely from performance point of view, I found it to be smoother than Linux Mint 15 Cinnamon, on my system. Further, Zorin OS 7 occupies about 8.6 GB of space on the system, post installation which is equivalent to Linux Mint 15 Cinnamon but higher than Ubuntu 13.04. OS     Installation Size Ubuntu 13.04     4.98 GB Mint 15 Mate     4.90 GB Zorin OS 7     8.60 GB Mint 15 Cinnamon     8.58 GB Snowlinux 4 Mate     11.58 GB Snowlinux 4 Cinnamon     12.00 GB Overall Zorin OS 7, in my assessment, is a very good option to the new switchers from Windows XP/7. It is faster, looks better and offers better performance than Windows; plus, there are no virus worries! Functionality-wise Zorin is as good as any Ubuntu distro out there. However, it has a stiff competition with the parent distro Ubuntu, arguably the most popular name in the Linux world and Linux Mint, the most popular search item in Distrowatch ranking and the best all purpose distro. I found Zorin OS 7 to be an all purpose OS, almost as good as Linux Mint and it is a definitely recommended one for any Linux novice. The attraction quotient of Zorin OS 7 is definitely higher than Linux Mint and it offers comparable performance. Mostly, it is bug free and stable - I didn't note any instability during my one week of usage. You can download the free 32-bit & 64-bit versions of Zorin OS 7 <a href="http://www.zorin-os.com/">from zorin os home page</a></div>

Why Windows? use Zorin OS free(review of Zorin os 7)

Zorin OS is an Ubuntu spin specially keeping in mind the new Linux converters from Windows. From the beginning itself it has an interface...