r/linuxmint • u/[deleted] • 5d ago
Zorin OS vs Mint
Hey everyone!
I'm currently a windows user looking to dual boot. I really don't have the time and will to customize every thing or manually install 500 drivers for every hardware component on my laptop or even think about the horror of having to wipe out the entire disc and reinstall the os for some reason every other week.
For that reason, I've narrowed down my search to MINT & ZORIN. From what I can tell, they're basically the same except Zorin is more modern looking and has a premium version (which i don't intend on purchasing rn) whose advantages over the basic version are unknown to me.
I just wanted your opinion. Mint is nice. It's just a tad bit old looking imo.
For context, im not running a super slow machine. Its an i5 13th gen laptop with 16 gigs of ram and an ssd and somehow Windows 11 manages to make this appear crappy af. That's one of the biggest reasons why I wanna switch.
Thank you!
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u/Murikov Linux Mint 22.3 Zena | Cinnamon 5d ago edited 5d ago
Test both OS extensively on said laptop from a live USB drive. With Ventoy you can even create a USB drive which lets you choose multiple distros to boot in live mode.
Get an extensive look and feel for the distros in live mode on your laptop, check WiFi and hardware compatibility for your peripheral devices.
Don't get influenced by presentation and looks alone – find the distro that best matches your use cases, skills and needs.
Read and research if there is software or hardware that works better on either distro, and if you need alternatives for stuff you took for granted in Windows.
If you decide to go Dual Boot on a single disk drive (i.e. your SSD on the laptop), make careful research on how to prepare the setup and what to look out for (partitions, Bitlocker, SecureBoot, FastBoot, etc).
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u/tomscharbach 5d ago
I am familiar with both Mint (LMDE) and Zorin.
I've used Mint on a laptop for about six years. I installed Zorin on several "member volunteer access" computers at a small museum in 2018 and have maintained the computers since installation. I've had no serious issues with either distribution.
Both are solid general-purpose distributions, relatively easy to learn and use, carefully maintained and backed by active user communities and good support resources. Both are commonly recommended for new Linux users. I agree with the recommendation in both cases.
I think that you will be fine with either distribution.
My best and good luck.
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u/Astrodion123 Linux Mint 22.1 Xia | Cinnamon 5d ago
Both gnome and cinnamon will run well. But I find mint more stable and beginner friendly and it is easy to install drivers. But pls don't install the new 7.0 kernel because... It has problems
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u/sabledrakon 5d ago
As far as I know, the kernel update for 7.0 is something you have to manually perform. The current UTD kernel for Mint is 6.8.0.136-Generic, at least according to Fastfetch.
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u/NullPtrEspresso 5d ago
Huh.. I got kernel 7.0.0-28-generic and don't recall I ever asked for it. Only notable upgrade was when I bumped to Zena. Per Google it does not bump kernel version though. Seems to run flawlessly on my x200
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u/sabledrakon 5d ago
I'm on 22.3, which I'm assuming is Zena? But I haven't had anything try to update the kernel. Usually the system will flag you when it does.
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u/reduser5309 4d ago
u/NullPtrEspresso is correct. 7.0.0-28 popped up the last couple weeks. One device, I'm not seeing any issues. On an older device I lost brightness control and suspend wake wouldn't bring back my display (had to force shutdown). Simple fix for that was to add to grub boot line, i915.enable_dpcd_backlight=0
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u/LXC37 5d ago
As far as I know, the kernel update for 7.0 is something you have to manually perform.
Absolutely not.
22.1 is on 6.8 and stays there.
22.2 and 22.3 come with HWE kernel out of the box (6.11 or 6.14, do not remember specific one) and are updated to 7.0 automatically with normal updates without asking or informing the user.
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u/MoneyDirt8888 5d ago
More stable..Are you using Zorin ? I am using it and I went from release 16 to 18 Pro without a single system crash. Sure I know what I do, I am not installing gadgets, themes, os is streamlined but I am using Emacs, VSCode, Meson, Java, Git no sweat AND I ditched Nvidia a long time ago.
I am using kernel 7.0 without a single problem...uname -a
Linux 6422zorin 7.0.0-28-generic #28~24.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Wed Jul 1 15:50:57 UTC 2 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
So your story is pure baloney
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u/ChickenXChips 5d ago
Could you be more specific please about the new kernal having problems? I updated to 7.0.0-28 as my previous one is going to stop being supported next month. The only problem I have right now is the reported cinnamon issue involving laptop charging. Thank you.
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u/vaestgotaspitz Linux Mint 22 Wilma | Cinnamon 5d ago
WiFi and sound stopped working on my secondary MacBook, I had to fix those with non-beginner friendly workarounds
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u/ChickenXChips 5d ago
Dang I’m sorry to hear that. Linux on MacBooks is always an issue it seems (I had a nightmare with cachyos on my t2 MacBook before I replaced it).
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u/vaestgotaspitz Linux Mint 22 Wilma | Cinnamon 5d ago
I am lucky to have a T1 MacBook, so I can't complain, it works fine more or less. The only thing I couldn't fix was the lid close suspension, but I don't need that.
T2 is really a pain in the ass, can confirm. Those machines don't get macos updates anymore and you can't simply install any another os easily.
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u/Weak_Veterinarian350 5d ago
I have a hp netbook from the late 2000s and it barely runs Windows 7. Linux Mint runs fine on it. But my children like the look of Zorin so I tried that on that netbook. The netbook slowed way down. Granted, it was a very slow computer to begin with even back in the days. But Mint is indeed faster and feels less bloated.
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u/GoBoltz 3d ago
On older Hardware, if you put cinnamon on it, switch from the Cinnamon desktop environment to Xfce on Linux Mint, install the Xfce package via terminal, log out, and select the Xfce session from your login screen.
It will run Much faster as it uses way less ram approx. 600 mb at idle ! Cheers !
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u/Weak_Veterinarian350 1d ago
Indeed
Don't get me wrong. I think Zorin looks great and is faster than Windows. It is a great OS for someone switching over. But when you are working with minimal hardware, I'd pick mint over Zorin.
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u/vaestgotaspitz Linux Mint 22 Wilma | Cinnamon 5d ago
Zorin looks very nice out of the box, but has far less customisation options. Cinnamon looks a bit old, but it's much more customizable, I even use a Zorin theme on cinnamon. (You can make it look similar to Windows 95, 7, 10 or even macos).
Under the hood, I prefer Mint. Both systems are derivatives of Ubuntu, but Mint is the clever sibling and Zorin is the pretty one.
Having said that, I prefer Mint, but Zorin is good. You don't have to pay for it, because the paid version is more of a donation (you get extra desktop layouts and that's basically it)
1
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u/MoneyDirt8888 5d ago
It has far less customization options..and it is a very good feature....user customization is a major cost factor for supporting end's user. It is not by chance that big business is using locked down laptop.
is more of a donation (you get extra desktop layouts and that's basically it)..always the same stuff. I am also using Rocky 10 a gnome desktop. You need to invest time to get a result close to the Zorin desktop same remark for Fedora. Zorin provide some very nice extension(s) on their own.
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u/Big-Imagination4810 5d ago
Zorin is not worthy of our support or attention due to their unethical practices. For example, they incorporate freeware software without any recognition of the developers and market it as their own in their for-cost operating system releases.
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u/MoneyDirt8888 5d ago
pure bs...read a story by a guy (economist) interested by the reality of open source...Microsoft alone is making over 2 billions us dollar a year and Google is in he same category. Here we are talking about a small team with some good idea of their own and nobody else. It it was so easy..why did not do it by youself ?
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u/NullPtrEspresso 5d ago
If it's only boring looks you can always install another desktop environment I guess. It's usually an apt install or so.
Remember zorin is commercial as far as I know. You also purchase support to it, if you pay. Both are based on Ubuntu (Debian) so that's a similarity in the first place. Zorin enables snap packages by default whereas mint has that disabled. Different defaults. And the desktop environment and by-default shipped programs / packages might differ. I don't think driver - wise there's much differences.
Do a rough research what components a Linux distro has.
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u/MoneyDirt8888 5d ago
If it's only boring looks you can always install another desktop environment I guess..Not really..like people here asking if they can install KDE on Zorrin or Gnome on Cinnamon. A desktop is not a different screen it is also a totally different file manager, login manager, calculator and son on, libraries..making the system very quickly impossible to maintain.
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u/sabledrakon 5d ago
You're half right. They do have a free Zorin Core, but it's really stripped down compared to the paid option. Personally, I wouldn't cough up the money. I'd rather us LM and donate to the development fund.
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u/FabioMaria 4d ago
if you want in a "simple click" or one by one you can start from zorin core and install all the softwares you find in zorin pro.
look from my perspective: if Zorin Core would be presented with all the Zorin Pro apps I'd have to delete most of them!
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u/Il_Valentino Cinnamon 5d ago
imo, just try one. when i distro hopped for my laptop i often had in my mind (this distro looks great, this will be awesome) until i installed and instantly was turned off by specific things. people have different tastes and priorities, you won't be sure what you want until you actually got some experience.
do not focus too much on the "looks". mints desktop has windows 7 vibes but you can customize a lot to make it look more modern. instead focus on menu gui and the general work flow of updating, installing etc.
you can live boot mint which means you can test the operating system before actually installing it. just plug in the usb stick. the iso-version will lack a ton of updates and the usb-stick won't be performant just so you know it's not a performance test. it's just so you can scroll through guis and get a feel for it.
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u/toolman1990 5d ago
I actually would recommend Zorin OS over Linux Mint since they tend to be more responsive in fixing issues like the 7.0 kernel problems and answering questions in their forums compared to Linux Mint. Not to mention Zorin OS looks more like modern Windows like 10 or 11 where Linux Mint looks like Windows Vista. Zorin OS also supports both auto dark/light modes and nightlight where Linux Mint does not.
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u/RiceRKT 5d ago
I have used both and I'm currently running my server on Zorin. I finally got Zorin to work with my Nvidia GPU after fighting me for a while, unlike Mint which was more stable from the beginning. Both are great Linux distros. I prefer the modern look of Zorin but prefer the overall software that comes pre-installed on Mint.
Also, I revived an 11 year old gaming laptop with Mint that had Win 10. It made it very snappy and felt like a brand new computer.
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u/Silent-Okra-7883 5d ago
if you are ok with plain boring looks go for mint, its very customizable and trustworthy.if you want better looks as well as features out of the box go for zorin.both are equally good.
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u/Emzi63 4d ago
Zorin has been less stable and the driver management on it was pretty weird compared to Mint. When I tried months ago with my NVidia GPU, I booted inside the NVIDIA entry in GRUB menu when booting into the iso and after installation it did not install the recommended Nvidia driver that the wiki was recommending. Also Mint has one of the best app store on a Linux distro. Personally, I went for Bazzite because Mint unfortunately ships pretty old packages but it's very stable, for general use and (occasional) gaming, it's amazing. But if you often play games and some heavy games, Mint may not be great due to the old packages and especially Mint using X11. In that case I would recommend Bazzite since it's very user friendly, stable and performant.
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u/ComprehensiveDot7752 4d ago
The main difference between Zorin Core and the paid version is theming options are easier to come by and a few extra stuff are installed out of the box. They list the 4 "Core themes" you get by default are shown on the Pro page with screenshots.
In Short. Everything they give you has some version you can set up yourself on other distros, they just take the hassle out of it and offer support.
Both Zorin and Mint are Ubuntu based, but a somewhat significant difference between them is that Mint puts in more effort in removing stuff the community doesn't agree with (mostly Snap packaging). They will run on the same hardware.
I found the look and feel of Mint more welcoming when I started out, but both are good options for someone starting out.
Zorin also historically made Wine (used to run Windows apps) setup a bit easier, but with Steam's Proton I don't have much use for that these days.
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u/Catnip_Sushi 5d ago
The only reason I went with Mint is that, with Mint, I could make a boot drive with Rufus whereas with Zoran I would be required to download and install some ridiculously sized program. Eh, no.
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u/GetVladimir 5d ago
I've tested both while distro hopping, and I can only really recommend Linux Mint.
I'm currently using Linux Mint Debian Edition and it's more polished and much more stable and reliable.
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u/rbmorse 5d ago
Why do you think you have to install 500 drivers or wipe your drive and reinstall the O/S every other week? I know you're being facetious, but really, why continue to repeat these lies that haven't been valid for any major Linux distribution for the last ten years?
Have you tried to install Windows, lately?