Zorin OS is a Linux distro. Linux distros are different Linux-based operating systems. Kinda comparable to how Samsung-Android looks and feels different than Pixel-Android or Amazon-Android (aka FireOS). All of these are distributions of the same operating system.
The same exists with Desktop Linux, but the distros differ more than the Android distros differ.
With that out of the way: Zorin OS is a Linux Distro that is focussed on people migrating from Windows. The user interface looks a lot like Windows, it’s setup with Wine (a tool that lets you run most Windows programs on Linux) out-of-the-box.
It’s a quite decent starting point for someone migrating from Windows to Linux and it’s a commonly recommended “beginners’ distro”.
There’s other options like wine-staging and wine-devel for newer programs, and also there’s paid options like CrossOver which can even be simpler to use than Wine.
If you want the latest Microsoft and Adobe software, you’re likely going to be out of luck, but, if you want the latest Microsoft software you’d probably stay on Windows anyway.
If you’re still dual booting, check out Winboat. It’s the uno reverse of WSL on MS. TBH Hearing good things about it. They are working on GPS passthroughs as well. Still in beta but it’s watch everyone is watching right now.
At this point, any programs that won’t work in Wine either have a component that cannot be run in Linux (kernel level anti-cheat for example) or has a DRM/execution stack that enforces Windows use (ie Abobe.)
Most of my Windows emulation is gaming, and I’ve managed to get Fitgirl installers and even cracks/updates to run through Wine and Proton.
My opinion only: At this point any program that won’t run on Linux is intentional, either by design, or by neglect.
Yup, Adobe and Microsoft def a no-go. Especially Outlook.
For MS, the o365 web apps work as fine as they do on windows. Outlook is nearly at parity with the windows app. (I think they’re slowly making the windows apps web under the hood)
Adobe has to be pre creativecloud
You can run a windows VM, then use remote-desktop but it completely defeats the purpose unless you’re just trying to edge into privacy.
It really depends a lot on what programs you are running, what exact version of Wine/Proton/… you are running and how it’s configured.
Wine is finnicky, but it can totally also just be bad luck, depending on what you try to run. Wine on x86 works quite well for me. x64 has issues more frequently, and combining it with Box86 to run it on ARM is more miss than hit.
Also, Wine is advancing pretty fast, so stuff that didn’t work a while ago might work now.
Zorin OS is a Linux distro. Linux distros are different Linux-based operating systems. Kinda comparable to how Samsung-Android looks and feels different than Pixel-Android or Amazon-Android (aka FireOS). All of these are distributions of the same operating system.
The same exists with Desktop Linux, but the distros differ more than the Android distros differ.
With that out of the way: Zorin OS is a Linux Distro that is focussed on people migrating from Windows. The user interface looks a lot like Windows, it’s setup with Wine (a tool that lets you run most Windows programs on Linux) out-of-the-box.
It’s a quite decent starting point for someone migrating from Windows to Linux and it’s a commonly recommended “beginners’ distro”.
I’ve never had much luck with Wine running Windows programs, unless the programs were ancient. Maybe I’m just unlucky?
There’s other options like wine-staging and wine-devel for newer programs, and also there’s paid options like CrossOver which can even be simpler to use than Wine.
If you want the latest Microsoft and Adobe software, you’re likely going to be out of luck, but, if you want the latest Microsoft software you’d probably stay on Windows anyway.
If you’re still dual booting, check out Winboat. It’s the uno reverse of WSL on MS. TBH Hearing good things about it. They are working on GPS passthroughs as well. Still in beta but it’s watch everyone is watching right now.
At this point, any programs that won’t work in Wine either have a component that cannot be run in Linux (kernel level anti-cheat for example) or has a DRM/execution stack that enforces Windows use (ie Abobe.) Most of my Windows emulation is gaming, and I’ve managed to get Fitgirl installers and even cracks/updates to run through Wine and Proton. My opinion only: At this point any program that won’t run on Linux is intentional, either by design, or by neglect.
Yes, exactly. My issues are with the Adobe suite, Affinity and Microsoft Office.
Yup, Adobe and Microsoft def a no-go. Especially Outlook.
For MS, the o365 web apps work as fine as they do on windows. Outlook is nearly at parity with the windows app. (I think they’re slowly making the windows apps web under the hood)
Adobe has to be pre creativecloud
You can run a windows VM, then use remote-desktop but it completely defeats the purpose unless you’re just trying to edge into privacy.
Not Onenote, that is horrible online vs the 365 suite on the PC. The rest are fine though.
This is pretty accurate. Wine (and really Proton) have gotten very good recently. Most software that isn’t actively hostile to Linux users will work.
It really depends a lot on what programs you are running, what exact version of Wine/Proton/… you are running and how it’s configured.
Wine is finnicky, but it can totally also just be bad luck, depending on what you try to run. Wine on x86 works quite well for me. x64 has issues more frequently, and combining it with Box86 to run it on ARM is more miss than hit.
Also, Wine is advancing pretty fast, so stuff that didn’t work a while ago might work now.