In part 1 of this article, I looked at three popular Linux- based distributions that could make a great replacement for your Windows-based operating system. In part 2, I’ll look at the very popular Linux Mint and the sometimes astonishing Zorin.
4. Linux Mint
One of my favorites, Linux Mint has come to version 16, codename Petra. Despite its richness in features and visual effects, it runs smoothly and gives the user a tremendous experience. The latest LTS (Long Term Release) version is 13, codename Maya. It can be downloaded for both 32 and 64 bit architecture, I’d suggest opting for Cinnamon, KDE, MATE or XFCE as your desktop environment. While XFCE is the most lightweight environment, MATE has the most serious “face”.
Requirements: 700 MHz processor, 384 MB of RAM for XFCE desktop environment, 512 for Cinnamon and MATE, 1GB for KDE, 800×600 resolution monitor for all of them except KDE, which requires a resolution of 1024×768.
5. Zorin OS
It’s quite an astonishing distribution, which aims to help the Linux beginners to make the transition from Windows easier. It even has an exclusive software, called Look Changer, which tries to give the users the touch of different Windows versions, like XP or 7.
Another interesting thing is the ring windows switcher and the desktop cube, which allows you to actually arrange the opened windows in a cube.
The developer claims that ZorinOS moves much faster than Windows 7, providing at the same time a deeper functionality. Also, you may choose between two versions: the desktop version, the most resource hungry, and the lite version, a lightweight LXDE based one, suitable for older computers and laptops. I believe it would be worth a try.
Requirements: for desktop version – 1GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, a graphic card capable of 640×480 resolution; for the LXDE version – 266 MHz processor, 128 MB of RAM, the same specs for the graphic card.
~Adrian
Hi Adrian,
Your reviews of Linux flavors makes them quite interesting. And, your positive review of Zorin OS excites me. Are you sure that vanilla users like me should try it. Won’t there be difficulties such as access of pages/links, display of fields or any of them turning inactive – Especially, while making online purchases, payments or recharges?
My Open office documents(saved in .docs format) had been rejected for upload in some job sites too!
I welcome answers on these from actual users too!
Thanks to Adrian & All!
Making online purchases, payments etc. is mostly a browser issue, not necessarily concerning your OS. As for the job sites, I couldn’t tell why your documents have been rejected, those sites could have a limit of the uploaded file size.
However, having the opportunity of dual boot you could give any OS a try without loosing the existing one.
I see a lot of advice for Linux but none of the advise is ever about SuSe. There are a lot more SuSe users then you folks give credit for. I worked for 3 different Copier companies and al three It persons used Suse. I use SuSe as well. some SuSe tips would be Nice.
Well Michael, I think this may be the first question we’ve ever had about SUSE Linux. From what I can tell, SUSE seems to be most popular for business use and we focus on home users on this site. Only about 1.5% of home users use Linux as their operating system and there aren’t any hard numbers on what percentage of those people use SUSE. If you have a question about SUSE, please submit it, perhaps one of our writers with Linux experience can answer it.