Is Zorin a full-on OS?

I have had MANY problems with Win8, and had yet another total system crash while doing updates today. Yes, updates that I had hoped would make my new laptop dependable... No such luck.

Fed up, I wiped the drive entirely (yes, I do have image/recovery disks to fall back on if necessary) and used my old desktop to begin searching the 'net for alternatives, running across Zorin. Looks really good, but I'm not sure whether Zorin is really stand-alone or whether it needs to piggyback on Windows to work properly.

Is it possible to DL Zorin and make a DVD using this Windows 7 desktop, then take said DVD out and boot up the sick laptop that currently has absolutely NO data on it with this DVD and get a full install of a workable OS, or does it have to use WinBlows to get the Zorin install started up?

Pat

Hi Kiddman32, and welcome to Zorin! Yes Zorin is a full blown OS and just like other distributions also comes with a raft of useful applications. What you may have to do first though is 'disable' EFI and 'enable' legacy BIOS or the DVD will not boot - Zorin does not need to have Windows on any machine for it to install - where the stumbling bock can arise is the 'secure boot' option brought into being by M$. Please take your time to look at this post here:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5434

and any links Wolfman added to the post.

Please keep us posted - and if you can, give us some screenshots of your BIOS - you will need to use a digital camera to take the screenshots then upload to here - it could also help others facing similar issues!