Zorin has a commercial license for additional GUI front ends, installation support, and a bunch of “professional” apps. It’s not clear if they’ve done something to make adobe/Autodesk/pro audio stuff work on Linux, pre-bundled their FOSS alternatives, or have made software themselves.
Personally, if I was looking for something “professional”, I’d go PopOS!. But if I were a small or mid-sized business I’d consider Zorin Pro if I could get license to include additional support outside the installer… Or just buy System76 computers with PopOS! pre-installed and support built-in to their sales pipeline already.
That said, Mint is also very Windows (classic)-like in their GUI experince (intentionally). It also has one of the largest Linux communities focusing on GUI usability.
Depends on your use case on which flavor you should go. But for $50, I’m curious what Zorin’s software suite is and might dive in.
Or just buy System76 computers with PopOS! pre-installed and support built-in to their sales pipeline already.
S76 (and all Linux PCs) are all just insanely expensive and overpowered for the needs of most people. I wish they would just offer a barebones model with an N100 or something for $500 that normal people could afford…
You can buy nearly any budget machine and load Linux off a USB stick, but most people just take whatever they have and their last windows action is to download a boot image and write it to a USB stick, then boot off the stick and tell it to use the whole disk
Then use your backup system to restore your documents, pictures, web and mail configuration, and game settings and saves to your Linux machine
I mean, that’s kinda the cost for low volume sales + computer support.
They’re not selling computers for the average Linux user, they’re selling computers for independent professionals and businesses that need the support licenses to confidently run their operations.
For the average Linux user, they have put out an incredibly stable version of their OS that has a professional in mind (docking station ready, highly optimized GUI workflow tooling, familiar OS styling, and more). We can then go grab a bare machine and toss their OS on ourselves.
I get it though. I’ve strongly considered snagging one of their laptops in the past. Especially since I want to support them. I’ve even considered some other machines for niche purposes (HTPC, home lab VM host)
, but always wind up snagging a Lenovo or IBM laptop or building my own desktop instead.
I have the pro version, aaaand it’s convenient… But honestly all applications can be downloaded without much work. Zorin is also so stable that I’ve never had to contact support. The extra layouts is pretty nice tho.
This is more of a “donation” option imo. If you love foss you should definitely financially support projects that you endorse!
It is in fact a bunch of pre-installed free software. I like Zorin, but Zorin Pro just seems like a way to trick businesses into paying for the distro. I guess having access to a support team is nice, but otherwise it’s not worth it at all.
Zorin has a commercial license for additional GUI front ends, installation support, and a bunch of “professional” apps. It’s not clear if they’ve done something to make adobe/Autodesk/pro audio stuff work on Linux, pre-bundled their FOSS alternatives, or have made software themselves.
Personally, if I was looking for something “professional”, I’d go PopOS!. But if I were a small or mid-sized business I’d consider Zorin Pro if I could get license to include additional support outside the installer… Or just buy System76 computers with PopOS! pre-installed and support built-in to their sales pipeline already.
That said, Mint is also very Windows (classic)-like in their GUI experince (intentionally). It also has one of the largest Linux communities focusing on GUI usability.
Depends on your use case on which flavor you should go. But for $50, I’m curious what Zorin’s software suite is and might dive in.
S76 (and all Linux PCs) are all just insanely expensive and overpowered for the needs of most people. I wish they would just offer a barebones model with an N100 or something for $500 that normal people could afford…
You can buy nearly any budget machine and load Linux off a USB stick, but most people just take whatever they have and their last windows action is to download a boot image and write it to a USB stick, then boot off the stick and tell it to use the whole disk
Then use your backup system to restore your documents, pictures, web and mail configuration, and game settings and saves to your Linux machine
I mean, that’s kinda the cost for low volume sales + computer support.
They’re not selling computers for the average Linux user, they’re selling computers for independent professionals and businesses that need the support licenses to confidently run their operations.
For the average Linux user, they have put out an incredibly stable version of their OS that has a professional in mind (docking station ready, highly optimized GUI workflow tooling, familiar OS styling, and more). We can then go grab a bare machine and toss their OS on ourselves.
I get it though. I’ve strongly considered snagging one of their laptops in the past. Especially since I want to support them. I’ve even considered some other machines for niche purposes (HTPC, home lab VM host) , but always wind up snagging a Lenovo or IBM laptop or building my own desktop instead.
No, that’s the cost of high-end hardware.
I have the pro version, aaaand it’s convenient… But honestly all applications can be downloaded without much work. Zorin is also so stable that I’ve never had to contact support. The extra layouts is pretty nice tho.
This is more of a “donation” option imo. If you love foss you should definitely financially support projects that you endorse!
The amount of contributions to FOSS from a downstream Ubuntu remix are very limited. Better donate to Debian or buy a Steam Deck.
It is in fact a bunch of pre-installed free software. I like Zorin, but Zorin Pro just seems like a way to trick businesses into paying for the distro. I guess having access to a support team is nice, but otherwise it’s not worth it at all.
I think that is the point. Its like red hat. You pay for support.