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Zorin OS 16 and its Grid solution for remote IT asset management

Hailing from the lands of green Ireland, Zorin describes itself as "an alternative to Windows and macOS designed to make your computer faster, more powerful, more secure and more privacy-friendly".

Notably, Zorin OS is the first operating system to have spared us the pitfalls of installing applications via install.sh files from the terminal, since a double-click - as you would with an .exe file on Windows - is all that's needed to run it and launch the installation.

With version 16 of its operating system derived from - and based on - Ubuntu, the latest version of Zorin OS is a mature operating system which, in its Pro version, dresses GNU Linux in its finest attire, both for businesses large and small, and for personal use.

Zorin OS 16, an alternative to Windows and macOS designed to make your computer faster, more powerful, safer and more privacy-friendly.

https://zorin.com

Zorin OS has also been designed to be easy to use. So there's no need to learn a thousand and one Linux tricks to get to work. The Zorin Appearance application lets you modify the desktop layout to resemble the environment you're familiar with, whether Windows, macOS or another Linux distribution.

The installation interface of this new Zorin is better designed than that of its big brother Ubuntu. More intuitive and user-friendly, it gives users fewer cold sweats when they want to replace their old Linux distribution with this one, or install it on their own alongside Windows.

The choice to base its OS on Ubuntu - and consequently on Debian - is a guarantee for users that they will benefit from the full strength of community technical support potentially needed when facing particular technical challenges linked to applications, whether for device or kernel configurations, as was the case for our installation on Microsoft Surface and SurfaceBook devices.

Zorin OS 16 is available in 4 versions: Standard, Lite and Pro. The Lite and Pro Lite versions are dedicated to older computers, lighter configurations, or users looking for greater speed.

We soon found ourselves too limited by the visual environment of the Standard version - too close to any Gnome-based Linux distribution for our taste - and quickly opted for the Pro version, priced at $39US. The sum, well below that of a strictly proprietary operating system, supports the ongoing development of Zorin OS. Here are some of its key features:

Premium desktop layouts (in the style of macOS, Windows 11 and Ubuntu);
A suite of professional-grade creative applications;
Advanced productivity software (including a visually enhanced Office Suite);
Pro Lite edition for older PCs.

Zorin OS is fluid and fast. It does better than many other distributions (less latency), which leads us to believe that the environment is well balanced overall, between animations, the presence of widgets and graphical refinement.

On the other hand, we found the choice of icon theme offered as standard unhappy, and quickly replaced it with the Numix-Circle-Light icon set, which we find more polished. Given that the Zorin OS desktop is based on Gnome, it's easy to find useful resources online for customizing the layout.

Evolution towards the professional environment

At the time of writing, the editor promises that it will soon be possible to switch from the Standard to the Pro version by simply unlocking from the Standard version, without having to prepare and install a new key/ISO image (at present, switching from one version to the other is done as for a complete reinstallation, with the exception that the installer takes over most - but not all! - previously configured by the user under the Standard version).

Zorin Gridthe Linux solution for community working, enterprise interconnection and remote support.

Zorin Grid can be summed up in two short phrases: PCs on autopilot. Total control whenever you need it.

Let's imagine that all the computers in an organization work together. When you choose to install an application or establish a new security policy, the idea is to deploy it automatically across the entire IT estate. Off-site computers can be easily managed in what is known as Fully-owned or BYOD(Bring Your Own Device, a term used to describe the use of personal equipment such as laptops, cell phones and tablets for professional purposes).

All this can be accessed at any time, from anywhere, in the cloud.

Computer management means putting IT on autopilot, while ensuring full control of the fleet at all times. For a company, this is the best way to free itself from repetitive maintenance processes, so that it can concentrate on what counts.

Zorin! (Cheers! Ваше здоровье! in techno-Irish jargon).