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009jim 06-19-2014 10:09 PM

Suitability of Zorin for Intel DQ35JO motherboard
 
I've been setting up a new (2nd hand) pc. It's got an Intel DQ35JO motherboard and Core 2 Duo processor. According to intel support, the mobo suits Windows XP and Vista but they are fairly non-committal about Linux. Can anyone comment on suitability and particularly for specific versions of Zorin? What I do know is that this mobo has PCI-express which requires XP-SP2 or later.

Ztcoracat 06-19-2014 11:16 PM

Hi:

Is this pc a desktop or a laptop? Is it 32-bit or 64-bit?
How many GB of RAM?


-:-If Windows XP or another operating system is already installed on your 2nd hand machine you will have to perform a dual boot: Windows and Linux Unless you want Linux to take up the entire HDD or SDD:-

Zorin is based on Debian and Ubuntu.
The current version is Zorin OS 8 but the LTS (long term support) is Zorin OS 6.
If it were my machine I would choose Zorin OS 6. But; that's up to you.

Linux Mint and Debian are also 2 other good choices if your new to Linux.

The good news is you can download any of the Linux Distributions burn them to CD/DVD or usb and try them first to decide which one you would like to install permanently to your pc.

If you do decide to download Zorin ***make sure you have the correct .iso file for your machines architecture***

http://zorin-os.com/free.html
http://www.linuxmint.com/
https://www.debian.org/

009jim 06-21-2014 06:18 AM

hi Zt_cat, Thank you for responding. It is a desktop. As to your second question; 32 or 64 bit is a function of the operating system, not the hardware, so I could install either. Which would you recommend for this board? Thanks for the note about Zorin 6 being the long term version. I will lean toward that unless I hear better information. I'm not interested in dual boot. The whole objective is to give Windows the boot altogether. I've paid out money for that POS too many times and don't figure on wasting more money for something that seems to always be changing but always staying the same, if you get my point!

Ztcoracat 06-21-2014 12:46 PM

Quote:

Which would you recommend for this board?
I suggest Zorin OS 6 32 bit if in fact your machine is 32 bit.
You could install a 32 bit os on a 64-bit system (if you wanted to)

Installing a 64 bit os on a 32 bit machine would not be wise as there would not be enough room and could possibly make the machine freeze, lock up or become inoperative.

Installation of a os designed specifically for the machines architecture is a good practice.

One way to find out what architecture your machine is; is to run this command:
Code:

cat /proc/cpuinfo
If the flag "lm" is present in the output it's a 64-bit machine.

Quote:

The whole objective is to give Windows the boot altogether.
I haven't used Windows in years:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CdDH57ykSA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD-bE_AImAE

jross 06-21-2014 01:47 PM

Quote:

Zorin is based on Debian and Ubuntu.
The current version is Zorin OS 8 but the LTS (long term support) is Zorin OS 6.
Actually, this deserves more consideration. I am not sure about the regular Zorin version, but Zorin Lite 6 is based off of Lubuntu from 2012. Lubuntu did not have a LTS version then. The newest Lubuntu 14.04 is the first Lubuntu that canonical officially gave a LTS designation.

Ztcoracat 06-21-2014 02:26 PM

As Zorin OS 6.4 is based on Ubuntu 12.04 it is an LTS (Long Term Support) release, provided with software updates until April 2017.
http://zoringroup.com/blog/2013/08/2...mate-are-here/

This release is based on Lubuntu 13.10 and uses the LXDE desktop environment to provide one of the fastest and most feature-packed interfaces for low-spec machines. This new release includes newly updated software out-of-the-box.
http://zoringroup.com/blog/2014/04/1...been-released/

009jim 06-21-2014 07:41 PM

Thanks again for the useful comments gents. I had already burned a disc of Zorin 8 64 bit last week and I got jumpy this morning and loaded it already. No hint of any problem loading it. Have not connected to the internet yet so have not downloaded programs I will use. Impressed by how quick the set-up process was. The guys who wrote the software seemed to have anticipated the choices important to me during the set-up process, as distinct from choices important to their own needs. I know I'm going to be on here asking a lot of questions for a while so thanks for your patience. One of the first things I would like to pick up is a "manual" that I can print out to have on hand which would have a useful list of "hot keys" and a useful list of commands.

Ztcoracat 06-21-2014 11:48 PM

Your Welcome; always glad to help.

Here's a list of some of the commands you'll need.
http://ss64.com/bash/

Another place you can find good information is the man pages that are in the terminal.
Just type man (name of the command) and the terminal will return a synopsis of the command and the flags if any that you can use with it.

Here's the basic's-
http://linuxcommand.org/

Good Luck and enjoy your Linux Zorin OS-:)

jross 06-22-2014 04:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ztcoracat (Post 5191777)
As Zorin OS 6.4 is based on Ubuntu 12.04 it is an LTS (Long Term Support) release, provided with software updates until April 2017.

Yes, I was only referring to the "lite" version 6:
http://www.zoringroup.com/forum/view...php?f=7&t=4835 states:

"YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE: BOTH ZORIN LITE VERSIONS 6 AND 7 ARE NOW OUT OF DATE"

However, it doesn't get much better for version 8: "Zorin Lite 8 is now available and is supported until June 2014"

This is true of the regular version 8 also! It is based off of Ubuntu 13.10 which ends support next month. It's frustrating that the Zorin website makes you have to dig and dig to find that out; it should be clearly stated in the description and download page like most distros. So the original poster will now have to replace this within a month, and most likely wasn't aware of that when he installed it.

009jim 06-22-2014 04:22 AM

This was a trap for me when I installed ubuntu. I was only using on a spare pc while I solved a problem. So I didn't use it again for 6 months and by then it would not update. If I use Zorin 8 on my mainstream puter I'm guessing I will not have a problem as I can update regularly until I get the next LTS release. Feel free to comment if this plan is flawed :-)

jross 06-22-2014 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 009jim (Post 5191965)
This was a trap for me when I installed ubuntu. I was only using on a spare pc while I solved a problem. So I didn't use it again for 6 months and by then it would not update. If I use Zorin 8 on my mainstream puter I'm guessing I will not have a problem as I can update regularly until I get the next LTS release. Feel free to comment if this plan is flawed :-)

The plan would only be flawed if Zorin doesn't come out with a new version in the next few weeks! :)

Zorin does have a user forum and maybe you can ask them directly there what is going on with a new version and if you will have to totally replace 8 with it (as current FAQ states) or if there will be an upgrade path. Please post what you find out here what they say as others who are considering it could benefit from knowing.

Ztcoracat 06-23-2014 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jross (Post 5191958)
Yes, I was only referring to the "lite" version 6:
http://www.zoringroup.com/forum/view...php?f=7&t=4835 states:

"YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE: BOTH ZORIN LITE VERSIONS 6 AND 7 ARE NOW OUT OF DATE"

However, it doesn't get much better for version 8: "Zorin Lite 8 is now available and is supported until June 2014"

This is true of the regular version 8 also! It is based off of Ubuntu 13.10 which ends support next month. It's frustrating that the Zorin website makes you have to dig and dig to find that out; it should be clearly stated in the description and download page like most distros. So the original poster will now have to replace this within a month, and most likely wasn't aware of that when he installed it.

Agreed:-

I'm not entirely sure why the Zorin Team is handeling things the way that they are but IMO it's most certainly not efficient for a distribution the way in which it's being conducted.

Ztcoracat 06-23-2014 12:16 AM

If it helps in your decision; 009jim:
You could go ahead a run Zorin for the next 30 days and while doing so check out other distributions.

The truth is there are 3 main Linux Distributions that are supported.
Slackware, Debian and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Most other distributions are derived from one of the 3.

Slackware has it's own tools but unlike RPM and Debian systems does not do automatic dependency resolution.

Dependency is a program or library that another program needs to run.

There are some distro's that are unique things unto themselves like Gentoo and Arch Linux.

Debian is the foundation of more distro's that Red Hat.

Maybe consider Debian or Linux Mint--:)

jross 06-23-2014 02:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 009jim (Post 5191636)
32 or 64 bit is a function of the operating system, not the hardware, so I could install either.

Just noticed this. Is this correct? That is not my understanding of 64 bit (don't you have to consider the CPU?).

009jim 06-23-2014 02:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jross (Post 5192381)
Just noticed this. Is this correct? That is not my understanding of 64 bit (don't you have to consider the CPU?).

Can't pretend to be a guru on this jros, but I'm reasonably sure it is primarily a feature controlled by the operating system. No doubt the hardware must be suited but once you have that then you can decide for yourself whether to load a 32 or 64 bit OS. Others may have a comment.


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