14 DAY TRIAL // A Beta version for Zorin OS 11 is now out, and it looks like the project is finally going in its own direction, even if we can spot a few Windows references in a couple of places.
Zorin OS was always promoted as a possible Windows replacement for people who want to move to a Linux environment, but without too much hassle. The Zorin developers made sure that the overall design of the OS resembled Windows, to some degree, and even went as far as implementing a tool called the Zorin Look Changer that has three entries, Windows 7, Windows XP, and GNOME 2.
This made a lot of sense a couple of years ago, but it’s becoming less relevant now. The system seems to be going in its own direction, and even if the user chooses one of the entries above; it’s not going to look a lot like a Windows OS. The main reason is that the theme used gives Zorin OS a certain look and feel that is not present in other distros.
Zorin OS 11 Beta is simply beautiful
Screenshots don’t do it justice, and you have to see it in action. The Zorin developers have refined the experience tremendously, and everything seems to be perfect, even if it’s just a Beta. The transitions are smooth, fast, and with some nice animations, all the major apps are already present, including Wine, and Ubuntu 15.10 is used as a base.
That means that the Linux kernel 4.2.x is being used, which means better hardware support. The only problem is that Ubuntu 15.10 only has nine months of support, and it will reach end of life in June or July. It’s not clear what happens with Zorin 11 and if the developers will choose to rebase it on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.
You can download Zorin OS 11 Beta right now from Softpedia and give it spin. Please remember that you’ll have to select the UEFI entry for boot, otherwise it won’t work.
