Since the update on June 5th 2019 of the (now older) Zorin OS to version 15 the Linux internet community is discussing, blogging and vlogging more and more about this in my opinion terrific Linux distribution for both beginners and advanced users who just want to get things done with their operating system and therefore want a very good out-of-the-box experience. You want to know how to get your hands on this popular, stable, complete, feature rich and user friendly Linux distribution? In this lesson you will learn how to download Zorin OS, so you can create a Zorin OS Live USB stick and try Zorin OS in a live environment or just install it right away.
Release approach of Zorin OS
This part of this course is probably the simplest. Our goal is to download the latest version of Zorin OS. But before we do that, first a nice teaser from the Zorin OS team and after that a short summary about the release approach, like also discussed in a previous lesson, that the Zorin OS developers use.
Source: Zorin OS Youtube Channel
Unlike many other distributions, the Zorin OS developers focus on absolute reliability and stability and consciously choose not to be a leader in all bleeding edge developments. In order to do that, Zorin OS is always based on what is called an LTS, or Long Term Support release. That deserves some explanation.
The basis of Zorin OS is Ubuntu. Ubuntu itself offers both a Long Term Support release and a short-term but more up-to-date / bleeding edge release. Canonical, the provider of Ubuntu, produces a new version of Ubuntu every six months, in which the latest and best developments, drivers, kernel and applications are always made available. For this non-LTS 6-month release cycle you get up to 9 months of support and security updates. In addition, there is as mentioned also an LTS release. A new LTS version is published to the public every two years. In older releases, an LTS version had three years of support on Ubuntu Desktop and five years on Ubuntu Server. From Ubuntu 12.04 LTS received both versions of support and updates for five years.
Probably the above makes it a bit clearer why the Zorin OS Team uses the LTS version of Ubuntu as a base. LTS receives 5 years of support and security updates compared to the only 9 months of the bleeding edge version. The consequence is that the age of the base for Zorin OS can be up to 2 years old, namely the frequency in which a new LTS release for Ubuntu is delivered. Basically, as a Zorin OS user you start to lag behind modern developments, but how bad is that really if you have a system in which all teething problems are solved and therefore stands as a house. And that lag is relative, since Zorin OS itself also comes with interim updates, but always based on the stable LTS releases.
The most recent version of Zorin OS is 16.1 which was published on March 10 2022. This version is based on Ubuntu Bionic Beaver 20.04 LTS. Thus this release will be supported until April 2025.
As said earlier, the whole strategy and base concept of Zorin OS is being more stable, reliable and secure while being the most user friendly system as well. Stable means to trust on proven technology which is in this case the LTS release of Ubuntu.
How to download Zorin OS
Downloading Zorin OS is incredibly easy, but there are some options. I assume that you want to use the most recent version, Zorin OS 16.1. To do this, follow these steps:
1) Go to https://zorinos.com/download/
On this page you see 4 variants that you can choose from, namely Zorin OS 16.1 pro which is the only paid option that cost Euro 39 excl. sales tax (Read the following why you should consider paying: https://zorinos.com/download/why-pay/), Zorin OS 16.1 Core (free), Zorin OS 16.1 Lite (free) and Zorin OS 16.1 Education (free) (https://zorin.com/os/education/).
Zorin OS 16.1 Core is the variant that we will use in this course. This is a free version with less options out-of-the-box, but which can be installed and selected manually if you need them. Zorin OS Core offers out-of-the-box four standard desktop experiences, also called Zorin Appearance, namely Windows like, Windows List like, Touch and GNOME Shell like.
Zorin OS 16.1 Pro is the most extended distribution variant of Zorin OS, which means that the distro includes lots of additional games, business and media software, but also out-of-the-box more selectable desktop layouts. Zorin OS Professional offers eight desktop experiences out-of-the-box. In addition to the layouts already mentioned with Zorin OS Core Windows-like, Windows List like, Touch and GNOME Shell like, the extra macOS like, Windows 11 like, Windows Classic like and Ubuntu like are also offered here. And you will get Installation support.
Zorin OS 16.1 Lite has been created with old computers in mind. It offers XFCE, which is a very lightweight desktop environment so it runs fast on very old computers.
Zorin OS 16.1 Education is created for educational purposes. It offers many useful educational apps, like applications to learn coding like GDevelop, Builder and Scratch.
As already mentioned, this tutorial and the rest of the course will be based on the free Zorin OS 16.X Core.
2) On the Download page look for Zorin OS 16.1 Core and select the Download option.
A new screen opens with the option to sign up for the Zorin OS newsletter. If you don’t want to sign up just click on “Skip to Download”.
You now get a Thank you for Downloading page with a link to the installation instructions. Meanwhile the ISO file will be downloaded to your Downloads folder.
That was it. Very simple. In a next lesson I will explain how you can create from the newly imported ISO file a Zorin OS bootable USB stick so that you can use it as an installation medium or as a live USB drive. Bit first we need to talk about the verification of the Zorin OS ISO image file.
Go to the Zorin OS Course overview:
Note: This course was written some years ago based on Zorin OS 16.1, but it still fits mostly fine with the most recent 18.1 version. I am currently writing a new book on the most recent Zorin OS, so keep checking this website for updates if you are interested.
Have a look at my latest book on Linux, in Paperback or Kindle format.
For more info on my book click here.
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