➡ After Windows 10 announced its end of life, many users switched to Linux, particularly Zorin, which has seen over 2 million downloads in three months. Zorin is popular because it resembles Windows and can also mimic the look of a Mac. Despite some differences, Zorin is user-friendly and less complicated than Windows, making it a good choice for beginners. It also offers different installation options for apps, defaulting to Flatpak installations, which are smaller and less confusing than Ubuntu’s Snap format.
➡ Zorin is a user-friendly Linux distribution that is particularly suitable for newcomers, especially those transitioning from Windows. It simplifies the installation of apps and codecs, and offers helpful tweaks and reminders for using terminal commands. However, Zorin’s updates lag behind Ubuntu’s, which could be a concern for users dealing with new devices. Despite this, Zorin maintains Ubuntu’s hardware compatibility and offers a Pro plan with installation support, making it a recommended choice for new Linux users.
➡ Installing Zorin OS is a straightforward process that involves selecting the language, keyboard layout, and installation type. You’ll need to connect to Wi-Fi, choose to download updates and install third-party software, and decide on telemetry settings. After filling in your username and password, there’s a wait while the installation completes. Once done, you can reboot and start using Zorin, which is designed to look like Windows 10 or 11 by default. The process is simpler than installing Ubuntu and is suitable even for beginners.

Apparently due to the Windows 10 end of life announcement last fall, a large population of Windows users migrated to Linux. Surprisingly, many in this population appears to have migrated to Zorin. Specifically, according to Zorin, the Zorin 18 release has so far surpassed 2 million downloads in three months. So I was curious why Zorin? Why did people choose Zorin and is it a good choice as a Linux distro? Zorn’s claim to fame is that supposedly its Linux version looks the closest to Windows and they can also change their look to look close to a Mac as well.

So I decided to look at it more closely. In the past when I’ve installed Zorin. The fact that it looks like Windows actually was a turn off, at least for me, but I decided to take an unbiased look with with a new user lens to see if Zorn will lessen the shock of changing to Linux from Windows. I’ll tell you what I think and if I will recommend that Windows users select Zorin. In the past I often stated that new users should try Ubuntu first. I found some interesting results and I’ll give you a conclusion at the end.

Then, after this discussion, I’ll actually go through a quick rundown of of a Linux installation of Zorin from a USB stick with the assumption that you’re currently running Windows 10 or 11 and will overwrite Windows. This of course will be the same installation instruction for any other distro of Linux when coming from Windows. This interesting to you? Then stay right there. Foreign. Background? First, a little bit of background. Zorn started out as a project around 2008 by the Zorin brothers and it is based in Ireland. It’s a small operation, but the base distro is a fork of Ubuntu and I can confirm that the Distro is closely integrated to its source.

Ubuntu is made by Canonical, which is around a 300 million dollar company with 1 to 2000 employees. Canonical has a lot more resources and this is reflected in historically better hardware compatibility of the Ubuntu Distro with more devices. The main change in Zorin from Ubuntu is that they modified the desktop appearance to closely emulate the look of both a newer Windows and Mac. In contrast, Mint, which is another Ubuntu fork that’s popular with beginners, looks more like an older version of Windows. Ubuntu by default looks different from both Windows and Mac os, though with some tweaking you can actually make it look somewhat similar, like positioning the taskbar at the bottom this is the way my Ubuntu install looks, which is quite different from the default Ubuntu presentation.

But out of the box, Zorin looks close enough to Windows that if you’re looking for a Start button and Start menu, it will be where you expected it to be as a Windows user. However, frankly, though the positioning of the system interfaces is close to Windows, it is not some exact copy. It’s still Linux. For example, in Windows 11 the app search is at the top of the Start menu, while on Zorin the Back button and search are at the bottom. The menu of apps is a completely different format, so you will not confuse this for Windows.

It’s totally different, so the question is if it is close enough to minimize the stress. The rounded corners of the taskbar, the status icons at the bottom right instead of the Ubuntu status icons at the top right, is more familiar. But to be honest, don’t go too deeply into a comparison here between Windows and Linux. Zorin is still heavily Linux. If you click on the Settings button from whichever location, it looks exactly like the settings on Ubuntu. So it’s a short term thrill of familiarity with Windows, but in the end it’s Linux. But that’s not a bad thing, because Windows Settings and Control Panel is significantly more complicated than Linux.

There are fewer things that a user needs to tweak on the settings ui. Advanced settings are accessible via Terminal command line. You might think this is a bad thing because you have to use Terminal, but this is where Windows went overboard. Practically every bit of information is set in Windows in Control Panel. And seriously, it’s oftentimes impossible to find things, especially when Microsoft constantly moves things around. So looking like Linux is a positive, not a negative. But in general, once you get past the launching of apps and settings, the rest of Zorin is pretty much like Ubuntu, but enough to cut out the rough edges of Ubuntu, which is a good thing.

Zorn versus Ubuntu Install A Zorn install from a USB stick takes longer because it cross checks the ISO to see if it is okay before it begins. The problem is that it just hangs at the install screen for a long time while it verifies the USB stick. Perhaps they could have improved the explanation about why you’re waiting during the reading step, otherwise you’ll get nervous and want to reboot. Zorn comes with multiple flavors. A core version, which is what I’m installing here, a Pro version which costs $47.99, and an education version we’ll just install Core for now, and we’ll discuss the Pro version later.

During the installation process, I generally found that Zorin had less options and less clutter, so it really caters to a very specific population of beginners, and I didn’t mind that at all. Even as an advanced user, I thought the default was fine. On the app side, Zorin installed LibreOffice by default, but I noticed it didn’t install Thunderbird for email. If you install Ubuntu with apps, Thunderbird is included, so that’s an interesting deviation. If you’re one of my followers, you likely have to install Thunderbird later on, as it is a commonly used app. From my privacy community, Zorn is completely like Ubuntu in other respects, so you have immediate access to OpenVPN in network settings without extra installation.

Again a basic requirement for people in my community. After installation you have the option to choose a different appearance and and in this case I stayed on the default Windows tile. Since we are assuming you’re coming from Windows, this is the first option in the Azorin appearance. Again, it’s not exact. The rest of the menus and settings is standard and looks identical to Ubuntu, but the color choices, fonts and images are nicer than Ubuntu app installation Zorin made some interesting choices in how it operates, and it’s subtle, but it does make a big difference. The main thing you will notice is that installing apps is a different experience than Zorin, and frankly, better.

Significantly better. Apps typically come in four popular flavors in Linux. Sometimes it comes as a deb file, which is typically installed by the command line command apt. Or it could be a snap package which you install by clicking and you will find it on the App Store. Or another popular packaging format is Flatpak, which is also installed by clicking. And finally, a very common installation method is a standalone file called an appimage. Zorin makes interesting choices for all these. For example, if you install a dev file by clicking on it instead of just saying nothing as in Ubuntu Z, Zorn actually pops up a full screen showing information about the app from the software store and gives a report.

This also auto launches the correct installer app, which is kind of a pain with Ubuntu for new users since it doesn’t state what app should be used to install a dev file. A common example of a dev file installed is Google Chrome. That’s how Google packages their browser installation in Ubuntu, you will click on that Chrome dev file and it will not make sense to a new user since it will be launched as a read only archive. Nothing happens when clicking, you have to specifically tell Ubuntu to open it using the App center app. I don’t think a new Ubuntu user even understands that App center is an installer.

Instinctively we look forward to the term App Store. Zorin in comparison auto launches their version of the App center which is the Zorin software app. They don’t call it a store either, but you don’t even need to know that since it will auto launch. Installing Flatpak or Snap from the Zorn software, which again is the name of the App Store, is a bit different. Instead of the installation package being predetermined as in Ubuntu App center, you actually can choose if you want to install a depth file, Flatpak or Snap. So having this fine tuned control is neat and by default Zorn will default to Flatpak, which is probably the most major deviation they make from Ubuntu.

Ubuntu heavily pushes their proprietary Snap format. Zorn defaults to Flatpak installations if that is available. So what’s the logic between choosing the FlatPak format versus Snap? Here’s my two cents. My main problem with the Snap format is that it mounts all these Snap apps as volumes and it is really confusing to look at storage devices when the majority of them aren’t actual storage volumes but are Snap apps. Also Snap files are usually bigger than Flatpak. Others complain about Snap because they’re proprietary to Canonical. However the advantage of Snap is that that the apps auto update so it’s fire and forget.

I have no axe to grind here, so I’m okay with Zorin sticking to Flatpak since that is the more open format and is common with non Ubuntu based distros. Deb is a common format for Debian distros like Ubuntu based Mint Popos, Zorin and Debian itself. But usually the Flatback and Snap versions are a newer version of the app, so that’s why their preferred versus the dev format. Another big win for Zorin is the installation of an appimage file for an app. An appimage is a self contained app with the extension appimage. Unfortunately in Ubuntu to run an appimage file you have to do command line nonsense like apt install libfuse2 and then you have to change permissions on the appimage to give it execution rights.

Zorin does this right. You click on the app image and then Zorin will prompt you for permissions right there. You don’t have to take any extra steps just in the app installation changes alone. Zorin really makes a huge improvement as I see these as a big hurdle for new users. Codec Fail Now Some things are a fail though. In Zorin, their goal of eliminating the use of a command line doesn’t all always work. One of the important things to note is that not all codecs used for popular media is installed in either Ubuntu or Zorin. So in Ubuntu on a new install you have to run the command sudo apt install Ubuntu restricted extras.

This installs the codecs that cannot be included in regular Ubuntu due to license limitations, a big pain in the behind for most users. To solve this, Zorn instead made a Codex section in the software app and then you supposedly have to click on all these apps labeled gstreamer this or that. Well, even I don’t know what these mean, so I’m not going to bother and it is certainly not very clear. So in Zorin I will run the same command as Ubuntu and call it a day and I will forget I ever saw that failed codec section.

Consistency with Ubuntu There are many minor tweaks which really helps with little irritations about Linux. For example, when you use a terminal command line, Zorin shows extra messages reminding people to use sudo, which is really good for a new user, and it’s just a minor tweak in the bash setup compared to standard Ubuntu. Other than these kinds of minor tweaks, the good news is that Zorin pretty much sticks to the Ubuntu style and everything is consistent with Ubuntu other than the desktop UI differences. This means that if you find some fix for some problem for Ubuntu, the same instructions should work for Zorin.

This is really important for new users. The problem is when some bug appears and you search for solutions, but you don’t realize your distro is Fedora and you’re reading Ubuntu instructions. So being consistent with the main consumer distro, which is Ubuntu, is best for tech support for new users. One really unusual thing is that Zorin caters to the Windows user switching to Linux, so they have this Pro plan for $47.99 which includes some extra apps. Frankly, these are your standard free apps on Linux, so I’m not sure it’s worth it for that however, if you are a new Linux user, the 4799 buys you free installation support which is excellent.

If you’re a new user and not really all that sophisticated with installation stuff, then go ahead and subscribe to the Pro plan whether or not you need the Pro version just so you can get installation help. The big negative though with Zorin is that it is a small company and the consequence of this is is that updates are behind compared to Ubuntu. For example, Ubuntu is currently on 24.04 and in April they will release 26.04 which will be the new long term release. However, Zorn is only now supporting 2404 with Zorin 18 a full 1.5 years behind Ubuntu.

This is probably not an issue for most new users, but those dealing with new devices are often concerned with getting faster updates from mainline Linux due to bugs in device drivers and so on. They will still get support from Ubuntu since it still gets updated. Zorin uses a long term release version, it just might be delayed. If that is a concern for you, then you should likely stick to the main Ubuntu distro itself and not a fork like Zorin or Mint. When I give advice to new users wanting to start with Linux after coming from Windows, my main concern is often about hardware compatibility.

New devices tend to have a lot of issues. For example I have an Intel Lunar lake laptop from 2025 and it clearly had some graphics bugs and had I just randomly selected some distro I I may have had serious incompatibilities. The reason I suggest Ubuntu is because Canonical is a big company and they actually have a certification program where they test various laptops and my particular Lenovo laptop was actually certified. So while other distros might work with your particular computer, I just avoid the headache by trying with Ubuntu first. This I learned from Ubuntu over a decade of trial and error.

Historically Ubuntu has been the most hardware compatible distro, but Zorn is different because it actually is a very close fork of Ubuntu. As I tested it, it really maintains pretty much most of internals of Ubuntu while just modifying the more visible Gnome desktop elements. So based on this it seems likely that Xorn will not lose the compatibility advantage of Ubuntu. And honestly, by default Ubuntu isn’t the prettiest of Linux options. I do tweak my Ubuntu install automatically and I can do it quickly. So I’m probably not the target market for a Zorin, but I installed Zorin on another laptop and I didn’t have to tweak it at all.

I was okay with the base format and that is a big stress reliever for a new user scared of moving to Linux from Windows. Based on this more in depth experience, I definitely will change my tune and recommend Zorin to those coming from Windows. It’s definitely close enough to Ubuntu that I don’t foresee compatibility issues being important. By the way, some people are obsessed with their OS having any telemetry features with hq and that’s a big complaint about Ubuntu. Xorn has limited amount of telemetry so they can count users and you can of course turn these off on Zorin.

You turn it off with this command sudo apt remove Zorin OS sensors but they actually give you the option to opt out during the installation process as I will show later. So no need to remove this by a terminal command. Now the next step is for absolute beginners. We’ll go through how to install Zorin from a USB stick from a Windows computer starting from Windows. I’m going to make an assumption here that we’re installing linux from Windows 10 or 11 and our end goal is to overwrite the Windows installation completely. If you want alternate instructions like Dual boot Windows and Linux, you can watch my previous dual boot video from December 2025.

Grading the USB media the very first step is to go to the Distro site in this case zorin.com and download the version you want, like the Zorin core version and what you will get is a file with an ISO extension. This is a DVD image format and the size of the zorin ISO is 3.8 GB. Then from Windows you need to flash that ISO image to your USB drive. Typically you have some sort of USB stick with at least 16 gigabytes of space or some USB reader with an SD card. Doesn’t matter which, just have sufficient space on that storage device.

Then you use some software to flash that ISO to the drive. The term is flashing, not copying. This is not a copy Using File Manager Forget that. Flashing requires a software that can turn the USB media into a bootable drive. The most common app used is Balena Etcher. Just install their Windows version and then use it to flash the USB media with the ISO you just downloaded. How to boot from USB Media to install Linux you must boot from the USB media. This is where the understanding of Linux installation fails 99% of the time. This is the easiest way to install Linux from a machine running Windows.

On Windows 11, go to Start Settings, System Recovery and Advanced Startup and then click on Restart. Now. On Windows 10 it is start Settings, Update and Security Recovery and Advanced Startup and then click on Restart. Now your PC will restart into the Windows Recovery environment. From there it will say choose an option and you need to select the option. Use a device. Select your USB drive from the list. Typically it will specify the model of the USB media, so that’s how you would recognize it. After you select your USB drive, it will start the Linux installation process.

The alternate instructions if you’re not starting from Windows means tapping on some function key until you see a boot menu. The problem is that the instruction for which function key to use is different for every computer model, and Windows will often override that and hide that option from you. So the above method should be the flawless method. The installation procedure is extremely simple and most of your time is spent just waiting. There are very few prompts compared to Ubuntu. There will be a long wait for the checking step if you’re using a USB stick, so just be patient.

First just select Install Zorin OS together with the appropriate language selection on the left. Then select the keyboard layout. I’m already connected to a wired network here, so that will likely be an extra step that I skipped which is for you to connect to WI Fi. Then on the updates and other software it already defaults to the important selections which are the Download updates and Install third party software. The third option is the senses I was talking about earlier. If you want absolutely no telemetry, then you can check that box. The next is the installation type it’s on.

Erase disk and install Zorin os. If you’re currently running Windows, it will give you the option to share Zorin with Windows. You don’t want that. You want to erase disk and have a clean Linux install. Otherwise you will need to watch the Linux dual boot video. Confirm the step. Next you will see the who are you? Window, fill in your username and password and then from here there’s a long wait of 10 to 20 minutes as it completes the installation, after which it will give you the option to reboot, Remove your USB media and proceed with the reboot.

And Zorin should now start. But the only thing you have to initially do on Zorin is select the Zorin appearance if you want to modify it. It defaults to a Windows 10 or 11 look, so normally you don’t have to do anything. That’s it actually quite simple and a lot simpler than installing Ubuntu, to be honest. Hardly any prompts at all, and I don’t think there’s anything here that would confuse a novice user. Enjoy and watch my other videos on using Linux Folks, the purpose of this channel is to promote privacy, and Linux is one of the best choices for that.

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[tr:tra].

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