This is a static archive of the old Zorin Forum.

The information below may be outdated. Visit the new Zorin Forum here ›

If you have registered on the old forum, you will need to create an account on the new forum.

Feedback: New User

mdavies5

Wed Oct 15, 2014 5:14:08 am

I spend a lot of time testing new releases and decided to give Zorin 9 a try as it included a 64 bit version. There is a lot to like about Zorin so I spent longer than usual with it to see if I could overcome any negatives and make it match my default poreference (Mint LMDE). I hope these comments are useful to you:
1. I used Mint Imagewriter to create a USB stick but it failed to boot. Also tried to use UnetBootin. This booted to first menu then hung. I find most modern releases have this problem with Unetbootin but run fine with Imagewriter. I finally tried to burn a DVD. It warned me that the file size did not match the header but I went ahead anyway. After burning it said the burn had failed but all the files were there so I booted up from the DVD and installed without problem.
2. I then tried to create a USB stick using your Startup Disk Creator. I selected to erase my USB stick but got stuck in an infinite loop so I erased with Gparted and then created then tried to create the Startup USb but got an I/O error 5. I also noted that I could not format my USB stick with Gnome Disks as I got synchronous error(udisks-error-quark,0). Gparted had no problem.
3. I now ran the update manager and installed NVidia drivers. All went very smoothly.
4. A quick look at the apps showed that it included many of my favourites. I personally would not include Wine although I appreciate you are aiming at Windows users. Personally I find too many apps do not run under Wine and this is of-putting for new users.
5. I found configuration rather tricky as it is not centralised. There is the Ubuntu "Settings" window for most basic items. There is the AWN dock panel. There is the Zorin Look Changer and Theme Changer. Make sure you use these first because they will change many other options you may have set. Finally there is Compiz which is not for the faint-hearted.
6. I loved the AWN dock. So easily configurable and only let down by the the Indicator3 applet, which is essential, but is 2 pixels higher than the AWN dock. This is regardless of how you change the height of AWN.
7. There is no facility to edit startup programs. You must manually run "gnome-session-properties" which would baffle Windows users.
8. I like the choice of Zorin menus although there seems to be an obsession with dark themes. However this a personal choice not a criticism.
9. I personally didn't like the default menu because sub-menus replace the main menu and you have to use the back button. However the YAMA menu solved this problem. It has one minor bug; the right-click has an "edit" menu but this does nothing. A Windows user would not know to edit the /usr/share/applications/desktop files.
10. I like the choice of icons and fonts which make the desktop very clean and legible; a pleasure to work with.
11. I like to use conky on my desktop and this works ok but it will disappear randomly. I could not produce it consistently but it seems to happen when I run a bash script (not related to conky) or to change wallpapers. Not a problem for me as I have a link on my desktop to reload conky. I have also noticed this problem with SolydK which is also based on Ubuntu.
12. The file manager appears to be Nautilus although it is very different to the last version I used and has a few oddities. If you use Tree view and expand a folder, the files do not appear under the folder. They appear at the end of all the folders, mixed in with any files from the parent folder. Also you use the Windows nomenclature "Computer" instead of "System" or "Root" as most Linux distros prefer. This may be a help to Windows users but it appears under "Devices" along with any unmounted drives rather than in the "Places" section. Also, in some apps such as Geany or LibreOffice, when you select "Open File" they display "System" or "File System" not "Computer". This will confuse Windows users.
13. I notice from some posts that people are asking for other flavors of Zorin such as xfce, KDE, Cinnamon etc. Obviously you have limited resources so I suggest you concentrate on ironing out the kinks and make one really good Zorin. It is certainly a very good distro which deserves the effort.
Finally I attach of my Zorin screen after a few hours of setting it up. Thanks for your efforts.

Swarfendor437

Fri Oct 24, 2014 5:53:34 pm

OK, glad you are having some pleasant experiences of using Zorin! And welcome to the forum! :D

Firstly, SolydK of SolydXK fame is actually more akin to Debian than Ubuntu as intimated by some reviewers in the states and is a spin-off of Mint but as the reviewers stated "feels more like Debian than Mint did!" :D

As for the indicator 3 applet I cannot stand it - see here how to get functionality back to your desktop:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7983

mdavies5

Sat Oct 25, 2014 2:33:12 am

Thanks Swarfendor437,
You are right about the Indicator3 applet. Sometimes it includes several icons and sometimes just one. I got rid of it and, thanks to your link, I installed applets for Trash, Volume Control, Language Indicator and Clock.
I came across a weird problem when booting for the first time in a few days. I could log in but only got my wallpaper with no menu, panel or icons. I checked the syslog and found "WARNING: Unable to find required component 'gnome-flashback-services'". After checking the internet I modified /usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/zorin_desktop.session and removed "gnome-flashback-services;" from the list of required components . This solved the problem because this service was not installed. Since writing my first post my only action has been to run the software updater. This has either removed gnome-flashback-services from my system or added the references to zorin_desktop.session file. I also may have removed some software that I do not use. This may have removed the service but would not have updated the zorin_desktop file. Maybe one of the developers could look into this
Cheers,
Mike

mdavies5

Sat Oct 25, 2014 4:25:41 am

I found the cause of my last problem. I had removed Brasero and Nautilus and this caused gnome-flashback-services to be uninstalled. If I tried to re-install gnome-flashback-services then I would also have to re-install Brasero. I'm not sure why a CD Burner should be so closely coupled with the desktop manager. Maybe I should stick with Mint LMDE

Swarfendor437

Sun Oct 26, 2014 10:20:22 am

Hi, any GNU/Linux distro that has nautilus cannot/should not be removed - it is integral to the OS! You can install additional explorers, my preference is for Thunar. I would have just left Brasero installed - what you have to remember about Brasero is for it to work properly you have to launch it first and NEVER use a context menu when a blank DVD/CD is placed in your optical drive for burning an iso etc.

Dave1984

Thu Nov 13, 2014 9:31:17 am

Zorin 9 Core: Libreoffice Writer- Using the blue & dark themes, the rulers are not legible on screen. I think this has to do with system colors. Rulers are visible using the high contrast theme. Unable to correct in Libreoffice global preferences unfortunately, other than that, Zorin 9 is my new favorite distro, thank you!

Swarfendor437

Fri Nov 14, 2014 12:51:00 pm

Dave1984 wrote:Zorin 9 Core: Libreoffice Writer- Using the blue & dark themes, the rulers are not legible on screen. I think this has to do with system colors. Rulers are visible using the high contrast theme. Unable to correct in Libreoffice global preferences unfortunately, other than that, Zorin 9 is my new favorite distro, thank you!


Hi, install 'gnome-color-chooser' - this will make your scroll bars wider after you have made the adjustments - you may also like to experiment with 'GtkCh'' (GTK Theme Changer).

Tutorial vid on 'gnome-color-chooser' here:

http://vimeo.com/89352123