Today, the Zorin OS team announced the general availability for public testing of the beta version of the upcoming Zorin OS 17 release, which promises new and exciting features.
Derived from the long-term supported Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) operating system series, more specifically from the Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS point release with the Linux 6.2 kernel and Mesa 23.0 graphics stack, Zorin OS 17 beta is here to introduce a much refined and modern desktop experience.
Even though it is based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, which uses the GNOME 42 desktop environment series, Zorin OS 17 beta ships with a newer GNOME desktop, namely GNOME 43, featuring Quick Settings, full GTK4 theming, an advanced window-tiling experience, new Power modes, a new screenshot and screen recording experience, as well as a new and refined Activities Overview feature.
Advanced window-tiling in Zorin OS 17
It also introduces a new multitasking feature called Spatial Desktop, which includes two desktop effects to make your Zorin OS desktop more fun to use, namely Desktop Cube and Spatial Workspace Switcher. These aren’t enabled by default, so you’ll need to activate them from the Zorin Appearance tool under Effects.
“With the new Desktop Cube, you can switch between workspaces in 3D. Your app windows float off the desktop surface with a parallax effect, so you can see behind them,” said the Zorin OS team. “There’s also the new Spatial Window Switcher, which replaces the standard flat Alt+Tab and Super+Tab dialog with a 3D window switcher.”
Zorin menu has gone through significant changes, including a universal search feature allowing you to search across various applications coupled with a new “All Apps” category to skim through all your apps in an organized alphabetical list.
The previous article mentioned that Zorin OS 17 beta employs the GNOME 43 desktop environment series, notwithstanding, most of the pre-installed GNOME apps retain the version numbers from the GNOME 42 stack incorporated in the upstream Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) operating system series.
Looking at other prominent modifications, Zorin OS 17 proffers thinner status pop-ups for volume and brightness, remote desktop sharing using RDP, a more streamlined pre-installed app selection in the Zorin OS Core edition, compatibility with newer hardware, and a refreshed logo.
On a final note, Zorin OS 17 assures two new layouts imitating the classic GNOME 2 desktop environment and Google’s Chrome OS desktop, both of which will be exclusively available in the Zorin OS 17 Pro edition.
Zorin OS 17 beta is available for download right now from the official website. However, please try to keep in mind that this is a pre-release version that may include bugs or unfinished features, so don’t install and use it for production work. The final release of Zorin OS 17 will be available in the coming weeks.
Last updated 7 hours ago