Zorin OS 16 Released

Zorin OS 16 is released. Zorin OS 16 is a Linux Distribution based upon Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and therefore inherits all the hardware support for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS provided by OEMs and chip manufacturers. The Zorin OS installation installer also inherits support for a UEFI BIOS and Secure Boot with a Machine Owner Key (MOK) from Ubuntu 20.04 LTS making installation straight forward on modern hardware.

The Zorin Desktop Environment is Windows Like making it one of the easiest to use Desktop Environments for those new to Linux. Besides the GNOME3 Desktop Environment, the Zorin Desktop Environment is one of the few Linux Desktop Environments that supports a 2 in 1 Touchscreen Device with Screen AutoRotation and a TouchScreen Keyboard inbuilt into the Desktop Environment.

The performance of Zorin OS 16 is good and is far more lightweight than Windows. In general Zorin OS 16 Core will likely perform much better than Windows 10 on early UEFI hardware (2012-2014 models) and in any case Microsoft have pretty much given up on any computer older than 3 years with Windows 11… The Zorin OS 16 Linux Distribution can be used to replace Windows on Devices used for most common tasks. There may be some slight issues with Windows specific applications but that is becoming more rare these days as third party software support for Linux is increasing and there are more browser based solutions.

Zorin OS 16 is still lacking when it comes to multi-monitor support due to the graphics display driver model it inherits from Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. This graphics display driver model requires a fixed DPI scaling and resolution for all screens making an extended desktop from a high resolution touchscreen to a standard resolution monitor sub-optimal. The graphics display driver model is being completely revamped in the Ubuntu 21.04 Feature Releases as well as the latest Fedora 34 release and addresses this issue but won't make it into Zorin OS 16 as Zorin OS is only based upon the Ubuntu Long Term Support (LTS) Releases. The newer graphics display driver model will be inbuilt into Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and we can speculate that Zorin OS 17 which will likely be built upon this will boast better multi-monitor support.

The Zorin OS Desktop Environment is also lacking behind Windows when it comes to Snap Window Layouts and the Emoji Panel (with Emoji and Symbol input) as well as a Paste Clipboard. There are some similar utilities inbuilt into Ubuntu/Zorin OS but their overall usability could do with some work to bring them up to scratch with the Windows Emoji Panel.

I demonstrate installation on my XPS 13 9365 with a UEFI BIOS and Secure Boot in the tutorial video below and have also put together a detailed written installation guide:

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