Zorin OS 17 It is now available as a new major release of the distribution Linux which has emerged as the biggest “alternative to Windows and macOS designed to make your computer faster, more powerful, more secure and respectful of privacy”. Propaganda aside, there’s no denying that we’re facing one of the best alternatives to the majority of desktop operating systems that are proprietary, and in the case of Windows, its constant outages and privacy concerns.

As for the main news that Zorin OS 17 brings, we have already mentioned and explained many of them in the beta version publication of the same system. This distribution provides the GNOME sa desktop by default Windows-like layout to ease the transition, which can be reconfigured with a simple click to resemble macOS, Unity (formerly the Ubuntu desktop), ChromeOS, or GNOME 2.

However, GNOME does not exactly stand out for being lightweight, so an alternative is Zorin OS Lite, which provides a much lighter Xfce desktop suitable for those computers that do not have high features, especially when it comes to good performance and driver support for graphics.

The first thing that stands out about Zorin OS 17 is the fact it is based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. This allows you to not only get a very solid and stable base, but also benefit from much of the third-party support your parent distribution has. Zorin OS users can safely install Snap packages, all Deb installers available for Ubuntu, and configure PPA repositories, giving them access to a wide catalog of software. Alternatively, Flatpak and Flathub are pre-configured for easy app downloads.

Since it’s an Ubuntu-based operating system, those familiar with Linux can easily guess many of its features, so we’ll mention the three main new features of Zorin OS 17:

• Universal search in the menuincluding results such as installed and available apps, but also files, calendar events, contacts and more.
• Improved multitaskingwith a style almost nailed to that of GNOME and the task view navigation inherited from it.
• space tablea novelty also related to multitasking, all through new keyboard shortcuts and a 3D cube.

Additionally, Zorin OS 17 brings general performance improvements, improved tile window management, new power modes, app store updates, improvements to the screenshot tool and weather apps, and much more.

Those who want to know all the details about Zorin OS 17 can take a look at the official announcement, while the operating system is available in the download section of the project’s official website in three editions: Core, which is the “up-to-date”; Pro, which is the paid one with all the extras and which is one of the main sources of funding for the project; and the aforementioned Lite, with an Xfce desktop and aimed at more modest computers, especially with regard to graphics support.