Zorin OS 17.3 has been announced today, promising new features centered around privacy and an enhanced user experience. Zorin Group kicked off its announcement by pointing out that Windows 10 is reaching its end of life this October.
Zorin Group is positioning its Ubuntu-based distro as the "ideal replacement," especially for devices that can’t handle Windows 11’s system requirements. If you’re in that boat, though, Paul also suggests giving Linux Mint a shot.
With 17.3, there is now an expanded database containing over 150 alternatives to Windows applications. Zorin OS allows you to run Windows applications thanks to the Wine compatibility layer, but there's nothing better than native applications on native platforms. Now, when you launch a Windows installer for an app, Zorin OS 17.3 will suggest native alternatives.
For example, Obsidian, the popular "file over app" note-taking application, ships with variants for Linux, macOS, and Windows. If you try to run the Windows .exe file on Zorin OS 17.3, the system will recommend the Linux version.
You've probably heard about the recent controversial policy changes Mozilla made. If you somehow haven't, here's a brief recap: Last month, Mozilla modified its Terms of Use for Firefox, stating that by using Firefox, you granted it a "nonexclusive, royalty-free license" to utilize information input through the browser. That's not all. In the Mozilla Bedrock project, the following code block was also removed:
Does Firefox sell your personal data?
Nope. Never have, never will. And we protect you from many of the advertisers who do. Firefox products are designed to protect your privacy. That's a promise.
This did not sit well with many, and Zorin Group is one of them. That's why, in 17.3, Zorin OS is ditching Firefox as its default browser in favor of a lightly modified Brave. Zorin Group says the following requirements were set when considering a replacement for Firefox:
- Free and Open Source software.
- A general-purpose, full-featured web browser. It should support common use cases, including playing copyright-protected content from popular streaming services.
- Privacy-respecting.
- Popular and recognizable.
- Mature and well-maintained. This is especially important for reliability and the quick availability of security patches.
Moving on, the Zorin Connect app has received a redesigned interface that adapts to your Android device's theme, alongside other improvements. For example, the "Remote Input" functionality now includes new features like middle-click, compose and send text, and a gyroscope mouse option.
Other improvements to the Zorin Connect app include the following:
- Share web links to disconnected computers, to be opened when they connect later
- Allow having different home screen widgets for different computers
- Send album art for playing media from phone to computer
- Direct Share targets in Android share dialogs
- Allow filtering notifications from a Work Profile
- Added more fine-grained notification channels
- Search by app name in the notification plugin settings
- Added the option to cancel a pairing request after sending it
- Accessibility improvements
- Bug fixes & performance enhancements
If you're a touchscreen user, you'll notice that in 17.3, you can now open the on-screen keyboard from the panel once you enable the "Screen Keyboard Button in Panel" option under "Interface" in Zorin Appearance.
Other changes Zorin OS brings include updates to pre-installed apps. The latest NVIDIA 570 drivers are now included in the .iso files, bringing support for the newest NVIDIA RTX 5000 series graphics cards. Zorin Group promises software updates and patches until June 2027 for users of the Zorin OS 17 version series.
For existing Zorin OS users, there are two recommended ways to get Zorin OS 17.3. If you're on Zorin OS 17, you can upgrade to 17.3 using the Software Updater. If you're on version 16, you'll need to follow this guide on how to upgrade.
As with other Zorin OS versions, 17.3 comes in three editions: Pro (which costs $47.99), Core, and Education.
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