Thinkpads Forum

OK, so if you go back through several years of my posts, you will find Im no huge fan of Windoze. I had/have promised never to upgrade from XP to another Winblows product, and I sincerley mean I will NOT pay Bill for a mediocre product that will be outdate before it is debugged.

I have perhaps found its replacement.
Looking for a 7 replacment I stumbled on Zorin OS. I have a couple of boxes running Macbuntu, and while i really like, "it aint windows" . Zorin is enough like windows in the GUI that its easy to find what you need. Its enough like uBunbtu to be functionally better. I have been on it now a little over 2 hours, and its doing what I want it to do. Im pretty sure that is the purpose of the OS.

Im running it on a z61T with a simple Core Dou and 2 gigs of ram, it is scary fast on start up and shuts down in the blink of an eye. Got a few tweaks planed but d@mn it was easy.

Of course your milage may vary
Ron

Why not simply stick with XP? I kept using it until the last month when upgrading to 16GB of RAM made my upgrade to 7-64 inevitable...

I will NOT pay Bill for a mediocre product that will be outdate before it is debugged.

Nuff said
Ron

Hmmm....going to give it a try. Sounds interesting.

I have been on it for 2 days, took it to work and let the staff play around with it. Did not tell them it was NOT windows. They took to it like a duck to water. Liked the theme, loved the speed and generally felt at home when they picked the machine up. Only after 10 to 15 minutes of fiddling with the machine did I mention..."by the way, thats NOT windows. Its Linux"

Ron

I tried Zorin some time ago but wasn't really sold on it, can't remember exactly why...time to pull that disk out again, I guess..

I haven't used the current version, but ran the last version for a few months last year, and decided that I prefer my Linux with a less Windows like environment. I found the Zorin default environment to be as clunky to use as Windows 7. Which just means that they have achieved their goal of making a Windows like Linux environment. It's just not what I'm used to working with, so I'm back to XFCE, Openbox and JWM on my ThinkPads that are currently running Linux.

I was looking for a Windoze 7 replacement, this is a Windblows 7 replacement. I also have a Macbuntu floating around. That said, Im not upgrading into another Microslouth fiasco. Im not 100% sure Zorin in my replacement, but if I were building a long term use machine for a family member, Im pretty sure this would be the OS of choice.

Ron

Eh. I don't really get these "distros" that just slap a different DE on an existing distro and call it a day.

I mean... why not just install Debian, add KDE, change the theme, add the icon task manager to the panel and call it a day? You can get something that looks pretty [censored] close to Windows that way, and you don't need to resort to a one-man-show distro to do it!

A quick glance at its website and I don't like it already. They want you to pay for "premium versions", which are nothing more than bundles of free / open source software? This is straight up heresy.

And I agree, plain KDE feels similar enough to Windows. Just get Kubuntu instead of this abomination.

2 issues with the last posts
#1 I cant fix Linux to look like windoze
#2 I wanted plug and play, this does that.

Ron

I'm just going to jump in here and say Linux Mint (Cinnamon Desktop).

Sent from my GT-N8010 using Tapatalk 2

Macbuntu seems to be lacking on updates and support .. facing the same issue I have been looking at Look a likes ... (they usually make things easier for the new user than simple naked Ubuntu or Debian)

So with this in mind i tried

1) Zorin OS 6
2) Pear Linux (OS 6 & OS 7 beta)

Both are based on Ubuntu Zorin targets Windows (7 & XP In the free version) and has a mac like interface in teh Paid Version, Pear just targets OS X even more in OS 7 (to be released on the 4th April 2013)

From some simple usage testing ... using libre office cal & Impress to do some standard tasks, I'm sticking with Pear.. more responsive & less resource hungry .. all testing done on a X220 I5 Intel SSD 4 GB ....

As both are built on the same core (12.x) I can only assume that the differences are in the shell ..

But both are great in allowing me to have a test rig ... virtual box & wine ... (my other pc is a Mac )

Zorin OS is heavily modified Ubuntu. AKA its Ubuntu. AKA its Linux. I haven't tried it out on my own, but it seems a bit silly. Why not just install ubuntu server 12.04, and install the needed packages for a lightweight gui like awesome, icewm or LXDE?

Maybe because people want to install and start using the GUI of choice instead of loading packages, possibly doing some compiling, testing and then getting ready to work.

Call me spoiled but with MacOS X and Windows, I can do just that. Install and use. I can also do it with a TON of other distros. Which is why, IMO most people pick a distro based on what GUI it is using, then, if needed, add under the hood tweaks.

Just a thought.

Temetka
You hit it on the head. Im a hardware person, not a software person. I need the thing to work out of the box. Im typing on the Zorin box now and it works. I like the looks and so be it..............

YMMV
Ron

Off topic

but I love the quote in your signature.

They tagged my son as LD (learning disabled) many years ago. There is nothing wrong with the kid, he just does not learn the same way as "most" kids do. He never crawled as a baby, he stood up one day and started walking. When quizzed about his IQ, he asks "why does it matter".
He is tagged with the titles ADD, ADHD, OCD, and Dysgraphic, these things dont define him, they make him who he is. Thank goodness, once we scare the hell out of his teachers every school year they learn the kid and what he is capable of, and not what he is described as having. Each of his teachers have pulled us aside and told us that he is an incredibly intelligent child, we just smile and say we "think so". We feed his knowledge, how many 11 year old kids do you know, that not only want to replace the LCD in an IBM Z60m laptop, but are giving the chance to do so. He did!

My wife and I had been married for more than 10 years when he joined our lives. Only child but we are quite comfortably with that. I chose my tagline not long after he was born. Of the 3 forums I am active on or have been active on, the same basic tagline is used.
Motherboards.Org
My son carries in his childhood, the wonders I have sought my lifetime to find, and squandered fortunes to posses
Cherokee Forums
I see in my son's eyes, each day, the wonders I have squandered fortunes to possess and have sought my entire lifetime to attain.

And the odd date? My initials, and when he was born.
Ron