Actually, I think having a Linux system that looks like a Windows system can make it more difficult to new users, since they expect a behavior that they won't get. But of course it is up to you.

I never used Zorin OS before so please give us a review after you test it and tell us if you would recommend it.

Thank you!

I don't see what you are driving at - when you click on a link to an application in a menu it tends to open the application just as it does in windows - when the menu system(s) is also laid out similar to the UI in windows it gives him one less unfamiliarity to negoitate. Of course there are going to be differences esp. for "power users" but my bro just wants to fire up email, msn,skype and do some browsing and online shopping etc. His msn account can be easilly hooked up via pidgin, linux already has a skype version, his email is yahoo and can be handled via linux version of firefox as can his browsing and online shopping. All I need do is explain where to keep his personal files and data (sub folders in the home directory), how updates are accomplished (via update manager) where the "control panel" is i.e. system settings and where to look for compatible software (software centre). He knows it is a different OS but when I showed him the linux mint interface that I use he was surprised how good it looked ("better than XP") and that it looked pretty easy to use than he had thought based on what others had told him about the "OS for nerds" i.e. linux.

Downloading as I write - will try a live version first and if I like it enough will install it either on my desktop quadcore or my dual core notebook and give a more thorough test drive. Will report back with my feedback in each case.

I made a rather generic statement, if your brother is aware of all those things then you shouldn't have any problems. Nonetheless, many new Linux users expect it to be a free version of Windows and when they see a distro that looks like Windows they expect it to work like Windows.

Yes I concede that is a good point esp. for those who are going "solo" without the help and advice of existing linux users.

Hi,

most tend to suggest Mint (Based on Debian and Ubuntu, it provides about 30,000 packages and one of the best software managers.) and I remembered somwhere was mentioned the Zorin OS (which is based on Ubuntu)
so I suggested it.
But I'm not familiar with Ubuntu/Debian OS and I don't know if the compatibility is guaranteed between Zorin <-> Ubuntu, like for example CentOS<->RedHat<->Fedora (well, almost).

I wish you like what you choose and you know (you're familiar with).

Regards.