Zorin OS 16.1 Lite Review - Lightweight Linux ep. 2

In episode 2 of exploring lightweight Linux distributions that can run on older hardware, we have Zorin OS Lite 16.1. Great looking desktop...but does it come at a cost in performance?

0:00 Previously on IG...
1:33 Whose voice is that?
1:59 Resource usage (cold boot and ongoing)
4:25 Trade-offs (or lack of?)
5:44 Xfce looks pretty
7:10 App selection
7:34 Desktop responsiveness
7:55 Slow software management
9:42 Hardware and ongoing support
10:17 TL;DW Conclusion

Links:

[rockyraab]

I bought a Gateway/Windows-10S "Chromebook" with only 4/64 gigs for use as a cheap travel laptop. Zorin 16 Core runs flawlessly on it. People who have never even heard of Linux (including a computer salesman) are astounded by how responsive and intuitive Zorin is. On a $179 laptop, no less.

[fastrockproductions]

You've been on a role with the content lately keep it up!

[TradieTrev]

Polished review as always, still amazes me we can utilize 10 year hardware that runs flawless.

[thebusinessfirm]

Great video, mate. Looking forward to your review of Lubuntu. Love your work, Blake. Regards from Adelaide.

[HendraPrabowo]

Will the memory usage on Linux distros be higher when it's on a live system than when it's already installed on the drive?

When I tried zorin 16 xfce and linux mint 20 xfce on a live system on Intel Centrino Duo (2007 Toshiba laptop with SSD and 3.2 GB of RAM), the memory usage was up to 900 MB at startup. That's why I didn't install the two Xfce distros and installed MX Linux KDE, which uses 500 MB of memory at startup, either during the live system or when it's already installed.

[MarkDavidMcCoskey]

I've been using 16 Core for awhile now. I'll give this one a spin as well.
Would be nice if all distros used Calamares giving one the option to NOT choose to install programs, like Games and Office. Makes for an even leaner install.
Lean, minimal installs are just the smart thing to do, regardless of ones hardware.

[pepineros]

Loving the new releases, hope this flurry of videos isn’t because you lost your job!

Can’t wait for more from your channel <3

[onelazynoob]

EndeavourOS bspwm community edition. My first tiling wm and honestly I like what that team did for getting new users to be fully set up for that kind of workflow. I've made some edits, but I had a good base to start with.

[-DOT.COM-radio]

Lightweight distros are heavier if based on Ubuntu. The exception is Bodhi Linux which uses its own Moksha DE (fork of Enlightenment). However, 2021 Bodhi 6.0 is still based on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

[brazildan]

I have tried a few different "light-weight" distros and the best one I have found is Q40S with Trinity Desktop Environment (TDE). Runs great and there is a 32-bit option. Plus, it has tons of customization options too (it is a fork of KDE 3.5x code). 341mb memory usage on the 64bit version, but like I said, there is a 32bit version too.

[guesswho]

Zorin OS 16.1 is awesome! It's my main driver since it was released. It's fast, stable, secure, & comfortable I recommend for others to try it

[BinaryGear]

Very informative review, thank you very much for sharing 👍

[raylowe]

SpiralLinux would also be a good lightweight distro to look at.

[Barood]

Zorin os is the one which booted in my 13 year old pc. It was my first pc which i got from my parents when i was a kid and I don't want to lose it. I am going to use it until the hardware stops working lol. Hope it lasts for 10 more years.😂👍 Puppy linux will be next destination in few more years maybe i should get some hardware replacements if possible. Especially ddr3 ram and few old cpus. Motherboard is difficult to find these days.

[kon_radar]

Version 16.1 Lite had the problem to scale window sizes, you could not snap the corners because they are rounded, and on the edges you had to be pixel accurate, snapping area is only 1px thick.

[shresthkumarlal]

Trinity is soo awesome and complete lightweight DE, A review would be great:-))

[chairman]

Lubuntu is coming sometime, yes / no ?

[shresthkumarlal]

Great content 👍
Some more lightweight distros:-
Antix
Bodhi
Lxle
Puppy
Slax
Q4OS Trinity (Trinity is soo awesome and complete lightweight DE, A review would be great:-))
Tinycore

[thering]

Xmonad and/or Qtile are awesome for any hardware. It'd take some learning, but it would be fun to see Blaine tackle a tiling window manager.

[ryandouglas]

Suggestions: antix, bodhi, MX Linux, LXLE, Sparky