Came across another Linux getting a good response- any good?

Came across another Linux getting a good response- any good?

I must admit I have been quite taken with installing Linux Ubunto on a spare machine. Fascinating to actually try it. The other day I was flicking through a computure magazine and there was a page report on something called ZorinOS 5.1. It was given a goodly review along with some good pictures. Can anyone throw any light on it? Would be interested to know if worth a try??

They must not announce "minor" updates, DistroWatch only mentions several different flavors of 5.0. Their website actually has 5.2 listed as the current version though ...

I see that Zorin is actually based on Ubuntu, but is supposed to be targeted more towards Windows users (whatever that means). I do note it says they don't use the Unity shell but Gnome 2.x, other than that I have no idea what the differences would be. Could be that ZorinOS is just a "spin" (Ubuntu's term for a distro which actually contains all standard material, just in a different combination from the usual Ubuntu versions) ... I know the Gnome shell is still available in Ubuntu, it just isn't the default any more.

I don't know ... what are you actually looking for?

Wasn't so much looking for something. It was just as I flicked through the m,agazine and came across it's Linux page and this reviewer was giving a rather positive blurb on it. He did say it was based on Ubunto though and was complimentary on it's appeaance, etc. Probably not that different but had me curious due to his positive comments.

What I have found about Linux is the ease there was as to installing it. I think being like many ignorant of the system I was expecting some kind of complicated working and found it simple and very straightforward. When you cosider what it costs to buy Windows 7 or even an up from Vista to 7 you have an OS that's free. Remarkable and quite a revelation! Thanks for the reply.

I had a search on the net and noticed some good reviews and one site giving examples of screenies did show some facets that Windows users would recognise.

Some versions of Linux are harder to install than others. I'd recommend Ubuntu (and its derivatives), Mageia/Mandriva and its derivatives, and OpenSUSE in terms of being easy to install - not that there aren't others, those are the ones I've tried which didn't require technical knowledge on the part of the user to get it up and running. I would not recommend Gentoo or Slackware; other versions which are not based on any of the above I wouldn't really know. (Though note: Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu. PCLinuxOS is based on Mandriva, etc.)

Handy to know and as I said ,installing it on that spare machine was interesting. Ubunto was an unexpected dawdle. It is so simple and uncomplicated and a slightly different way of thinking.That it is free compared to the biggish money MS is makes it quite incredible for an OS. Thanks for the further information Like many I was a bit unsure of dipping my feet in but glad I did as it is remarkable and so simple to use.

Ubuntu has a rich benefactor ...

Many Linux releases offer a LIVE CD that you can run to see if you like the software without having to install it. I would recommend trying them this way. If you decide you like they will help install the software from the running demonstration. For new users I would suggest SUSE, MAGEIA, kubuntu or possibly Mepis. Others that use some of the above as a base for their own version are Mint and PCLinux.

All can be downloaded and run without any special effort on your part. The ones I have mentioned mostly use KDE desktop environment which is a little like Windows for look and might be easier for a Windows user to adjust to using as a trial. Ubuntu is the base for kubuntu and it uses a new desktop called Unity that some people like and others revile. As a free download you are only out the cost of the CD ROM disk you use to make the disk. If you are really frugal you can use a rewritable disk to make different downloads LIVE disks and erase it each time.

The best thing about Linux is learning new software, less malware and safer surfing if you set the system to be secure.

Try it and have fun!

Cheers

I think that "distro hopping" is something that's a bit better to do "for fun" after you're already somewhat more experienced with linux (any distro) rather than someone new to it.

If you're just beginning, I think the ideal is to stick with a single distro for a while. It's also good to stick with some that has had a considerable longevity and than some potentially "fad" distro that may vanish next month. Otherwise the "big picture" learning curve of linux will be decelerated by the learning curves of minor specificities of several distros. Somewhat as if you were learning to drive each day in a different vehicle, alternating several brands of cars with slightly different engine behaviors, different panels, auto-or manual shifts, and even trucks and all the truck-specific stuff.

At least that how it worked for me, and I also have the impression (from forums) that early distro-hoppers tend just to get annoyed with all the tiny differences and different ways to deal with some problems, and give up linux.



If you want to play with other distros there's this software called unetbootin anyway, for windows and linux. What it does is to create a bootable pendrive from a CD/DVD iso from a distro (preferably a live one, but you can have it to install a non-live one as well). And there's also a multi-distro script somewhere (I think it's intended more for DVDs than for pendrives), so you can burn several distros in a single DVD.

Originally posted by the-dsc:

If you want to play with other distros there's this software called unetbootin anyway, for windows and linux. What it does is to create a bootable pendrive from a CD/DVD iso from a distro (preferably a live one, but you can have it to install a non-live one as well).

That software has never detected a single USB flashdrive or HDD for me: I've always had to manually pick the right partition and they removed that capability from later versions. This is the last version that works: http://sourceforge.net/projects/unetbootin/files/UNetbootin/506/

In any case I wouldn't recommend UNetbootin except in that it's slightly easier than doing things with dd and grub in a more hands-on approach.

I don't remember having this problem, I hope it's not something new that will affect me if/when I eventually really need it. The only sort of problem I had with it, as far as I remember, was that it wouldn't be able to download a given ISO for some reason (perhaps it was just that the server addresses had changed), so I had to download it manually. Someday I'll see if I learn how to do it all manually, perhaps even try the whole thing of having more than one distro in the same pendrive.

Originally posted by the-dsc:

perhaps even try the whole thing of having more than one distro in the same pendrive.

Is that even possible with UNetbootin?

Originally posted by the-dsc:

Someday I'll see if I learn how to do it all manually, perhaps even try the whole thing of having more than one distro in the same pendrive.

It's not that I think you should do it all manually or anything. I just don't think UNetbootin is a very good tool. It has a confusing interface that's simultaneously too complicated and too locked-down. I have no personal experience with them yet, but I imagine the likes of Fedora Live USB creator and multibootusb are better if the screenshots are any indication. For example the Fedora Live USB creator actually displays partition labels.

Some of the newer versions are intended to be dumped onto a USB drive and/or media card, no need to mess with GRUB at all. Still have to actually copy it to the USB/card of course, but it's already set up for booting.