I am ending 2025 by finally, fully getting off Windows and over to Linux on my primary PC. It was… a lot easier than I had expected! It helped that earlier this year, I already migrated off Microsoft Office 365 to Libre Office.
One of my older PC’s is an ASUS Windows Stick (used it for streaming music in a past life). Unbutu was just too large for it; enter Zorin. I follow the YouTube channel “ExplainingComputers”, and got turned towards Zorin. Zorin is “Unbutu-Lite” with a graphical interface (desktop) akin to Windows, and it installed nicely on the old device bringing it it back to something somewhat functional life.
This past week, my Windows 11 laptop (primary PC) began… doing strange things. A lot of lagging while booting up, forgetting attached devices, etc. I had already cleaned off my Microsoft OneDrive (cloud storage) when I terminated my Office account. Coming off the successful Zorin upgrade that brought new life to an 10+ year old piece of technology, figured why not?
These were the steps I followed to install Zorin OS 18 on my laptop:
Pre-installation
Give yourself time. It took me, comfortably, about 4 hours to fully migrate. Plan to be offline through the initial part of the install. Lay out all your parts so you are not scrambling.
Have your mobile phone handy. I needed the Google Authenticator to log into several sites once I got through the upgrade process.
You will need a USB storage stick; 4G or higher to install Zorin.
Take your time, save all your work! Get either a USB hard drive or second USB stick. Save your photos, folders, documents, presentations, etc. to that drive.
I used kMyMoney instead of Quicken, and saved the check register file to the hard drive.
I have a text file that has all my Email addresses, server names, UserID’s and passwords. Printed that down and had it handy, though Thunderbird Mail found the servers when I put in the Email addresses.
I use Firefox and made sure to sync my most current bookmarks.
Make note of any Wi-Fi network and password you use.
IMPORTANT STEP: If you are using Google Enhanced Security on your Google account– turn it off before starting the installation process; you will still have Multi-factor Authentication and remote device verification.
Note: This tripped me up. Google just would not allow me to log into any Google-account functions, like Blogger, Email, etc. while I had the Enhanced Security turned on.
If you have a stand-alone web browser, save your bookmarks, stored passwords, etc.
You will need software to “burn” the OS image onto the USB drive. I’ve used BalenaEtcher (https://etcher.balena.io/) for years, and it’s pretty straight forward. There are plenty of other products out there; just find one you like.
Download Zorin OS: https://zorin.com/os/download/
To see if I would like the operating system, I began with the free version. You can also “demo” Zorin without installing it to see if it works for you.
Ultimately, I upgraded to Zorin Pro for $47.99
Zorin installation
Burn the OS to the USB drive and install the drive in an open USB slot on your PC. Follow the instructions on how to reboot your PC and go into OS Setup Mode (holding Esc, f2, f12 or Del while powering up). You will need to set your BOOT SEQUENCE to read the USB drive first and then let the system restart. You might be prompted to select the Zorin OS; hit Enter and the process should begin.
You will see (in my case) the Windows logo with the “Z” pulsing underneath. Blinking, etc., but the desktop screen will appear and ask you to select which option you want – to trial the OS without installing anything, or to install the OS.
I chose to INSTALL Zorin, and to use the entire hard drive. It was pretty straight forward – all menu driven, did not need to know any code hacks like the Linux of decades past. The installation will prompt you to select a Wi-Fi network. NOTE: To speed things along, I chose NOT to "download updates" prior to the installation.
When the installation is done - the desktop tour is good, especially if you never used this form of desktop before.
Post installation / Software Setup
The Zorin OS comes with Libre Office and the new Brave web browser. (Brave is touted as one of the best, most secure-out-of-the-box browsers available. I am still firmly welded to a locked down version of Mozilla Firefox, but will be exploring migrating to Brave in the coming months.)
When it was done, I plugged my USB hard drive in that had the backup of all my photos, documents, music, MEMES, etc. on it and just dragged and dropped it onto the Zorin desktop. Set my favorite photo as my backdrop, etc.
This year, I also got off Quicken, migrating to kMyMoney. I downloaded and installed the Linux version off the Zorin software store, pointed it to my backup file and it fire right up.
If you use the Microsoft PhoneLink app, there is a Zorin version (Android only) that has a lot more features in it (still exploring).
I stream music through iHeartRadio, and the Zorin version works great!
Thunderbird Mail installed well, and I was able to add all four of my Email addresses to it.
I use Google to maintain my address book. From the Google Contacts website, I was able to export a vCard file that migrated my contacts into Thunderbird with just a few clicks.
Things to adjust to
So far, two Windows apps do not have a functional Zorin/Linux counterpart; Apple Music and Bose Speaker management. For both of those, the web based counterparts have proven sufficient.
Still poking around the configuration. All in all, very pleased with the outcome!
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