Over the past few years, the Ubuntu-based Zorin OS has rightfully earned its place among the top desktop Linux distributions, especially for its clean, polished, and user-friendly design, giving a great user experience.
It’s built mainly with newcomers in mind—particularly those considering making the jump from Windows to Linux—purposefully providing a desktop that feels comfortably familiar to anyone used to Windows.
As we informed you, the latest Zorin OS 18 release landed just a few days ago. And whether by coincidence or clever timing, it was announced on October 14—the very same day Microsoft ended support for Windows 10. The message couldn’t be clearer: Windows users, Zorin OS is ready to welcome you.
Why am I saying this? In a recent social media post, the Zorin OS team shared an impressive milestone — in less than 48 hours, Zorin OS 18 has been downloaded over 100K times, and that number keeps climbing, making it, in Zorin’s words, “our biggest launch ever.”
That alone is pretty remarkable, but here’s what’s even more interesting — about 72% of those downloads came from Windows users. Now that really makes you stop and think.
It seems that the recent push from several Linux distributions to attract frustrated Windows 10 users — following Microsoft’s decision to end support — might actually be starting to pay off.
This brings up that age-old question that’s become more of a running joke in Linux forums than a serious debate: Is this finally the year of Linux on the desktop? Well, just like years ago, the answer is still the same—no. Honestly, I don’t think that day will ever really come. But that’s a whole other discussion.
Still, what Zorin has pulled off here is impressive. Hitting 100K downloads in just 48 hours is a strong indication that the distro’s user base is expanding fast. Whether this surge is directly linked to the end of Windows 10 support remains uncertain, but the timing is hard to overlook as a possible contributing factor.
Finally, it would be interesting to see comparable numbers from other major players in the Linux desktop space—and, more specifically, from Mint or Ubuntu—but no such data has been shared so far. In any case, congratulations to the Zorin team; the achievement is well earned.
Visually speakin, Zorin is everything Gnome ever tried to achieve and failed big time at.
Default adwaita is dull, boring, very inconsistent and feels outdated, while libadwaita locks you into this inconsistent dullness.
Recoloring adwaita is only just a plaster on a wooden leg, but sometimes one emerges and make it look half decent. Ubuntu with Yaru manages to make a more modern version of it.
And here Zorin truly shines in getting the best out of libadflawta. They managed to make a cohesive, consistent, not one bit dull, and modern looking take on adflawta.
This is professional-like theming, where adwaita feels like it was winged by 2 pimply-faced kidults in a basement.
This is exactly why Gnome is freefalling lately, a multi-billion dollar company who consistently fails to compete with opposing projects driven by 100-1000x less employees.
zorin os cost more then windows if you pay for pro each time next version comes out since license does not transfer and windows support is usually longer then this 1 time license per version of zorin.
Here’s a Tip for that. If you keep your confirmation email after you bought the Pro version the first time you can Re-Use it. I’ve used it for Upgrades and on several new installs on different computers with no problem.
*Sure, if you buy that particular version. The core version, just like most other Linux distributions, is free.
There are at least 26 active distros based on Ubuntu LTS. More than that which are not recorded on Distrowatch. Support only lasts for 5 years. Just like WIN, Linux distro support should last for at least 10 years. So what’s the big deal with Zorin 18? Developers keep adding more bells and whistles causing download size to mushroom. For what purpose? The Ubuntu 24.04 for example was more than 6 GB in size. Same ‘ole same ‘ole! Plus, you can’t believe half of what is posted on Twitter/X.
I use ubuntu with the minimal install option or whatever its called during install ‘been awhile since I installed” that does not install some stuff I never use like libreoffice since I do not need office software.
The distributions based on Ubuntu usually aren’t that large though. The core version of Zorin is only 3.5 gigabytes and the different versions of Mint aren’t nearly as large either. As far as what can be believed, the information comes from the developers themselves. You can believe them or not.
“Is this finally the year of Linux on the desktop? Well, just like years ago, the answer is still the same—no. Honestly, I don’t think that day will ever really come. But that’s a whole other discussion.”
I concur with this statement, but for a completely different reason. The reason? There’s no single “year” of the Linux desktop. It’s a creep. And no with Windows 10 EoLed, I wouldn’t be surprised with this information that it went from a creep to a higher stream.
Rocky Linux, Alma Linux and some other distros offer 10 years of support, for free too!
I have tried both of these distros. I would use one or the other IF I could install certain Bible programs I use regularly: Xiphos and BIbletime. However, these packages are not in their repositories and the Flatpak versions are memory hogs and will not run correctly. So I am using Ubuntu 24.04 with Pro installed with support until 2036 – 12 years!