First, let me say that towards the bottom of this post, you will find some screenshots and links that you will need.
Well, you may or may not know about Microsoft pulling support from Windows 10 on 14 October 2025, making it EOL. Well, Microsoft has put requirements in Windows 11 possibly rendering your desktop PC or laptop into a boat anchor. There are basically four choices moving forward:
1. You can do nothing, and continue using your computer as usual after it goes EOL. (Bad choice, as it will no longer receive security updates making it more and more susceptible as time goes on.)
2. You have the option to pay for the ability to receive security updates for Windows 10. (Another bad choice in my opinion, because Microsoft will cease your ability to pay for updates in three years, at which time, you will only have three possible choices, basically putting you right back where you were.)
3. Buy a new desktop PC or laptop. (Another bad choice, I think, as not many people will have $1000 just laying around to buy a new computer with. So, I think the majority of people won’t like this choice.)
4. Switch operating systems. You could go Mac OS, but would need to buy an expensive Mac, so see the third choice. But there is an operating system that ‘feels’ like Windows, but is free: Zorin OS 17. (I think this is the only real choice if you don’t want to replace your perfectly fine computer or laptop, and toss your present one into a land fill.)
For the course of this talk, I chose one of my fifteen year old laptops (from 2010), an HP Elitebook 8540p. As you can see from this image, nothing too fancy. Intel i7 M620 cpu, running at 2.667 GHz with 8 GB of Ram and Nvidia NVS 5100M graphics. (Double click to zoom.)
Now, a few things about Zorin:
1. It is based on Ubuntu LTS (Long Term Support) Linux. Meaning, that new major versions only get released every two or three years. After a new major version gets released, the previous version will still get updates for a couple years, giving you that period of time to update (FREE) to the new version.
2. For those Windows folks that feel the need to pay, you can download the Pro version for just under $50 that includes tech support. It basically just has more apps and things installed out of the box, but you can use the software store to install anything you wish. (So, I think the free version is the way to go, but I have been using Linux, since 1994 and Unix since the mid eighties, so I have absolutely NO use for tech support. There are also more than enough youtube videos, that a simple google search should turn up enough tech support for most problems.)
3. You just download whichever ISO image that you want, and use a tool like Rufus to burn it to a bootable USB key. Then, you just insert the USB key in your computer, access the boot menu, boot the computer from the USB key, and follow the prompts to install Zorin. Here is the link to download Zorin: https://zorin.com/os/download/ and here is the link to download Rufus: https://rufus.ie/en/.
4. Even though the default Zorin browser is now Brave, you can still install Firefox or Chrome, to name a couple, if you wish. Firefox is right in the software store, and with Chrome, you just download the linux version from the main Chrome download page and then install it.
Here are the system requirements for Zorin OS, so you can see they aren’t too high:
CPU: 1 GHz Dual Core – Intel/AMD 64-bit processor
RAM: 2 GB
Storage: 15 GB (Core), 32 GB (Education), or 40 GB (Pro)
Display: 1024 × 768 resolution
It only needs 2GB, and I tested it with 4GB, and it ran just fine. When I ran it with 8GB, it was even a little bit better.
One thing you might need to know, if your computer has an NVIDIA graphics card or chip, the Zorin default windows manager (Wayland), doesn’t support NVIDIA as well as the X11 window manager (Xorg). No big deal, because while you are installing Zorin, there is an NVIDIA choice, so just select that. When you log in for the first time, click on your name, and before you enter your password, in the lower right of the screen, click the gear icon and make sure XOrg is selected, and if not, then select it and then log in.
Now, a few words about post-installation:
It is rather lightweight, allowing those low requirements above. You can see from this screenshot, I downloaded a winamp installer in the upper right. The other three icons to the right of that are Windows portable apps. This is made possible by the Windows Compatibility Layer (Wine) and Bottles. You can also see from this screenshot, that I used that Winamp installer, and here is Winamp running happily on Zorin.
I won’t say that it will run every Windows app, but I have installed many different things under wine, like Sony Soundforge. There are also many things that you won’t need to install. No need for MSOffice, as Libre Office is already installed. Libre handles all the MS formats, such as .doc, .xls, etc, etc. So, it will read and write all of the MSOffice document types.
Here is a link to help you along with 20 things you should do after installing Zorin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuESAFgsOvg&t=1158s . It shows you how to use the terminal to install stuff, which you may not want to be bothered with, so keep in mind that you can just use the software store to search for and install the packages. I am very proficient with Linux, so I prefer to use the Terminal for my installation needs.
At the bottom of the screen, you probably noticed a very windows-like taskbar, that I set to autohide. At the very left of the taskbar is the big Z, which is just like windows start button. In the top left I placed the trashcan, which behaves just like windows. I also installed things like variety (that auto changes my wall paper every so often) and preload (which caches apps that you use frequently, so they load much faster).
I also installed Timeshift, which uses rsync to set up system snapshots, as you can see in this screenshot. It is basically just like Windows Restore points.
Here is a Zorin OS 17.3 overview, for some more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XMhYQ2vMzA
So, in closing, Zorin OS 17 is a great alternative to either tossing your laptop into a landfill, or upgrading your PC either by upgrade or purchase. OR, you could just be ready to join the growing number of people that are fed up with Bill Gates and Microsoft. (BTW: this blog post was made using Firefox under Zorin OS 17.3.) Also, anyone that knows how to get hold of me can feel free to ask me any tech support questions that you may have. 😉