Zorin OS, an Ubuntu-derived Linux distribution known for its friendliness to Windows users, has received version 17.1, which brings 3 different editions of the operating system, as The Register reports.

Zorin OS 17.1 is still based on the almost two-year-old Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish release, which will soon be replaced by the new LTS version 24.04 Noble Numbat.

The special Education edition is free and adds a range of software aimed at children and younger users.

The collection includes educational games and programming environments. It’s a comprehensive collection that includes some non-obvious tools, such as the handy LogSeq program for taking and organizing notes.

The collection also includes the GNOME Reading Strip extension, which shades the entire screen except for a narrow horizontal strip to help those with dyslexia or reading difficulties.

The Pro version, which costs 48 euros, offers a different set of programs. All of the programs included in the distribution are FOSS, which means that the vast majority of them are distributed free of charge. The Pro package includes extended support, as well as additional desktop layouts available in the Zorin Appearance program.

zorin os

It’s still GNOME, so programs mostly don’t have menu bars, but Zorin OS gives you more customization options than any other GNOME-based distribution.

In addition, Zorin OS is also one of the largest distributions in the world. For example, the Education edition will not install without 35 GB of free disk space.

A Lite version is also expected, which has an identical look but a less demanding desktop environment. Unfortunately, this version does not have an exact release date yet.

In addition to Debian’s own packages, the system also supports Snap and Flatpak. In addition, the main menu has an option called Support for Windows applications. This option installs Bottles, which is a wrapper for WINE that isolates each Windows application into its own separate container for improved stability.

WINE is now at version 9 and works quite well, thanks in large part to commercial Linux gaming hardware. It’s also nice that if you try to install something that has its own version for Linux, WINE will notice and let you know.