How-To Geek

No, Zorin is not my dog or my Russian girlfriend, it is a Linux Operating System. And a very nice OS that will not discombobulate a Windows user because the user interface is very much like Windows.

I am running Zorin (and Windows 8) from an external SSD attached via USB3 in a virtual partition under VMware Player. That allows me to run those systems on any PC in- and outside the house. If you are interested in that setup, consult my little tutorial on my Skydrive. With a PDF enabled browser (e.g. Chrome), you can read it on-line. Else you can download it (right click on it).

Little recording problems:

The sound level of the recording is low. Turn the speakers up.
I set the recording window to cover my Windows 7 taskbar, but it cut it off.
When I trigger my Rocket dock, it does not show.
Sound comes only from the mic, not from the virtual system

But I am sure you will still get the idea.

https://vimeo.com/58580356

Zorin is nice for a windows user to get feet wet with Linux because out of the box the GUI is similar to windows. I change the GUI to Gnome. It gets a thumbs up in my book! Zorin & Windows 8 are on my lappie. Ubuntu 12.10, Sabayon 10 and Windows 8 are on my desktop.

If someone doesn't like Unity they can install Gnome, LXDE,or others and make it their default. I hated Unity when it first came out, but I decided to learn about it and now I have it tweaked to my liking. But again "that is why there are a variety of flavors of ice cream". I am not a believer of Linux is better than anything else, but one thing I like about it is the high degree of customization that is possible. One does not have to stick with the out of box configuration.

P.S. I have seen some of your video tutorials...very nice whs.

I've been using Pinguy 12.04 which takes stuff from Mint and based on Ubuntu using Gnome3 and it's the most beautiful and intuitive Linux I've seen yet. the only downside I've hit, common to all Linux I think, is the printer UI's and options are PRIMITIVE...the only way round it I've found so far is to dual boot with Windows. i really really want move to this. If I can find a way of having the printer UI that's in Windows I could have this as my sole OS.

My issue with Zorin,running in VirtualBox (checking it to see if I would recommend it or install it for family/friends as Windows alternative) is that it takes me three clicks on the start button to get the menu to pop up, wonder if it's just me or if this is a known bug. I haven't gotten that far in checking it out yet. On one computer with low specs as an extra one in a computer lab I set up xubuntu and customized it to look like windows, even to using a windows start button and changing the desktop icon for Firefox to the IE icon. The users really only want or need to access Webmail, Facebook and general surfing, just didn't want to confuse the seniors at the center with a different UI.

Thanks whs! Will look into this.

This is what caught my attention; " I am running Zorin (and Windows 8) from an external SSD attached via USB3 in a virtual partition under VMware Player. That allows me to run those systems on any PC in- and outside the house."

@whs, thanks again, will install it on a VM today if I get a chance. I will have to bother you if I get stuck!

@whs, 10-4.