Living & Gaming with Zorin OS
A few weeks ago we shared our first quick test of Zorin OS. As you might recall, we had a stretch of bad weather that kept us indoors, giving us time to test it. We've been enjoying Zorin OS daily for about a month at this point, and we have a few more insights to share.
Zorin OS keeps showing up as one of the friendliest Linux choices for anyone leaving Windows. Its popularity has exploded, to put it mildly. By January 12, 2026, Zorin OS 18 had passed 2 million downloads in under three months. That number is seriously impressive and shows how many people are looking for a fresh, reliable option to Microsoft Windows. As longtime Linux users, we love seeing so many newcomers discover the same freedom and control we have enjoyed for years.
Zorin OS 18 is based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (the same foundation we use daily), so we were especially curious about the real-world differences. The refinements stand out right away. Everything feels polished, familiar, and ready to use. Most former Windows users could jump in and start working or playing almost immediately.
We have now run Zorin OS in two configurations. One machine we wiped the drive and installed it as the only operating system. On the other we set up dual-boot alongside Windows 10. Both computers share the same hardware:
- ASUS Prime B550M-A WiFi motherboard
- AMD Ryzen 7 3700X CPU
- AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT GPU
- 16 GB RAM
- 1 TB SSD
We bought these systems during the pandemic to replace aging desktops. With extra time at home, we wanted machines strong enough for gaming and other daily internet activities. They served us well (aside from the occasional Windows driver hiccups). After the end-of-life for Windows 10 in October 2025, security patches kept coming through Microsoft's Extended Security Updates program. Still, after decades in the Microsoft ecosystem, we were ready for an alternative for multiple reasons.
Fun Fact: We first started using Windows back in 1988 with version 2.1!
Overall Impression
All our testing used the free Core edition of Zorin OS. They also offer a Pro edition with extra features and installation help for a one-time fee of $47.99 USD (for version 18 as of this writing). Check the full comparison here: https://zorin.com/os/pro/#compare. We didn't really need the Pro extras for our testing, but we plan to buy a license to support the project. The nice part is that you can start with the free Core version, try everything out, and upgrade to Pro later directly in the system. Or buy it ahead of time on their site.
In our first post we noted how Zorin OS impressed us from the start. Installation was quick and painless. It arrived loaded with useful tools. The interface felt clean and easy to navigate right away. The best touch is the option to pick a desktop layout that matches what you already know: Windows, macOS, or others. We chose the default Windows-like layout to ease the like-for-like transition. Switching or choosing a layout is simple during setup or anytime later. The free Core edition gives you four layouts, while Pro adds eight more.
From the first boot we started making it our own. Picking favorite themes, changing the wallpaper, and updating our user avatar felt quick and fun. We also liked that Brave comes as the default browser. If you already use a Chromium-based browser, the switch feels seamless.
A few highlights caught our eye immediately. Like most Linux distributions, Zorin OS offers full disk encryption with LUKS built in. No company holds your keys or can access them later. It includes UFW (a straightforward firewall) and a simple graphical tool called Gufw to control it. One small note: UFW is not enabled by default. Turning it on takes just a password and a single toggle. New users might not know to check, so it is worth mentioning.
Updates are another strong point. While some of us use command-line scripts on other machines, most people want something easier. The Zorin update manager looks clean, feels intuitive, and gets the job done without confusion.
Installing apps is simple too. Zorin includes a welcoming App Store packed with popular free and open-source programs. One thing that can puzzle beginners: the same app sometimes shows up in different formats (Flatpak, Snap, or a Zorin-specific version). For the people we helped test it, we suggested picking the Zorin version of an app whenever available. It keeps everything straightforward.
We wish we could say everyone loved the included LibreOffice right away. But honestly, the testers jumped straight to the big question: how well does it handle gaming?
Gaming on Linux
We have been gaming on Linux for a while now. Steam has made the shift from Windows much easier thanks to Steam Proton. Proton is a compatibility layer built by Valve with help from CodeWeavers. It lets many Windows games run smoothly on Linux. When you pair it with Vulkan support, Steam delivers great performance across platforms.
Zorin understands that gaming matters to a lot of people. They provide clear instructions at https://help.zorin.com/docs/apps-games/play-games/. The basic steps are easy: grab Steam from the App Store, log in, download your games, and start playing. The guide covers a few key details in plain language that first-time users can follow without stress. For checking game compatibility, we always recommend https://www.protondb.com/. It is a community resource that tells you how well specific titles work on Linux.
We followed those steps to install Steam, log in, and download the 2009 Valve classic Left 4 Dead 2. On first launch we hit a dialog saying Vulkan was not available. Brave Leo AI (built into Brave Search) helped us figure out we were missing some Vulkan drivers for our AMD GPU. We added the right architecture support and installed the necessary packages with these commands:
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update
sudo apt install mesa-vulkan-drivers:i386 libvulkan1:i386
After that, the game launched to the familiar opening screens. Then we got the annoying "X is not responding - you may choose to wait or force quit" dialog. We have seen this on other Linux setups, and for newcomers it can be surprising. Games take longer to load due to their resource intensive nature, so we extended the timeout with this quick command:
gsettings set org.gnome.mutter check-alive-timeout 60000
This bumps the wait time from 5 seconds to 60 seconds before GNOME shows the dialog. It avoids false alarms while still letting you force-quit stuck processes when needed.
Once the intro videos finished, we picked a map and jumped in. About halfway through the first area the game froze completely, crashing the session back to the login screen. In the past when this occurred on Windows, a full power-off reboot was required, which was not the experience we wanted. Some digging pointed us to the CoreCtrl project. It lets you control AMD GPU behavior to prevent wild performance swings that cause crashes. We added the PPA and installed it like this:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ernstp/mesarc
sudo apt update
sudo apt install corectrl
With CoreCtrl set up, we created a Steam profile, locked the GPU to "Fixed" mode at a "Low" level. This stabilized things without hurting the 1080p rendering or gameplay.
After that tweak we relaunched Left 4 Dead 2 and tested (read played) for hours without issues. We then tested other games that had been similarly tricky on Windows for this hardware: Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Dead Island. All ran well and synced with Steam Cloud as expected. The surprise bonus? Borderlands picked up exactly where we left off six years ago.
Thanks to Brave Search and Leo AI for quick troubleshooting, the system is now our go-to gaming setup almost every day.
First Month Thoughts
We really appreciated how easy Zorin OS was to install and how enjoyable the overall experience has been. Just like on Windows, a good search engine (with AI help) cut through the noise to solve problems fast. It is wonderful to give this hardware a second life, free from external account logins, endless ads, and tracking. The experience has been great so far. If you are thinking about leaving the Windows world, Zorin OS is an excellent distribution to try.
You might start with dual-boot to test everything safely, or go all-in by replacing your current OS. We did both in this test, and both worked smoothly. We still have a few more things to explore, but we wanted to share our progress so far and help you decide if it is right for you.
Remember: we may not have anything to hide, but everything to protect.
