Mint vs Zorin OS vs Pop OS!

[TD15]

I am still until now unable to decide between these 3 distros. If anyone could help by listing some recommendations?
I use my PC for remote learning, programming, browsing and casual gaming.

Edit: Added what my usage is.

[Moem]

I recommend Mint. I'm not sure what else you would expect.
No one but you can answer this question. We don't know what is right for your usage and preferences.

[Kendoori]

I can't speak for Zorin, but I've spent considerable time with Pop and Mint. I really liked Pop, but ran into some oddball issues with Gnome. I ended up coming back to Mint, and have even gotten Cinnamon to behave a bit like Gnome. In general I have found it much more stable. Perhaps the most attractive part about Mint is this forum. Super solid community and you can easily get help at whatever level you need it. While one can get some help online for Pop, it's a much less active community.

[Tolayon]

I for one would take Zorin OS straight out of the equation.
Linux Mint and Pop!OS should be enough to choose from (at least for the time being).

If you have a relatively old computer (like 6 months old or more) and are used to Windows, Linux Mint is definitely the answer.
If you have a newer computer, especially with dual graphics involving NVIDIA, Pop!OS is way better. Also if your primary usecase will be gaming.

The big downside with Pop!OS is that it only uses Gnome as desktop, with a basically vanilla layout in previous versions and shipping with their own shell in the newest one. Getting used to either one will take time for a former Windows user, but you always can install Cinnamon, Mate or Xfce as well - even though that may cause some instability on your system.

Perhaps that could be the point to take Zorin OS back in, if you by all means cannot get used to the Pop!OS desktop and Linux Mint doesn't work for you.

[JoeFootball]

If anyone could help by listing some recommendations?

Speaking for myself, I'd recommend Mint. Also realize that you're probably going to get a Mint-weighted response from a Mint forums audience.

But echoing the advice of others, try each of them, as only you can decide what's best for you.

[TD15]

The major reason that makes me hesitate to keep mint is that it has high power usage (on my laptop), even through I tried TLP and nvidia optimus I merely could get over 4 hours of runtime, compared to about 7 hours on Pop OS even before installing TLP. For a laptop battery life is not something I like to lose...

[Moonstone Man]

The major reason that makes me hesitate to keep mint ...

It's quite ok to go with a different distribution. Asking the question that you have on each of the forums for the 3 distributions you've listed will only get you generic answers that are in support of a person's favourite OS. At the end of the day, only you can decide what of the 3 is more suited to your needs.

[motoryzen]

The major reason that makes me hesitate to keep mint is that it has high power usage (on my laptop), even through I tried TLP and nvidia optimus I merely could get over 4 hours of runtime, compared to about 7 hours on Pop OS even before installing TLP. For a laptop battery life is not something I like to lose...

Have you tried a program in Software Manger called "cpupower-gui" yet? It's helped extent my usage in my older Dell Broadwell cpu inspiron laptop from 2015 considerably setting it to "on demand" mode ( requires kernel 5.8 I think or newer for that option to show) but you also have the obvious settings like " powersaver" too.

It's worth trying out.

[Arch_Enemy]

I used to think Mint was Mickey Mouse.

I was an Arch fan.

Mint is just fine.

Plain and Simple.

Good for beginners.

Excellent for advanced users.

[TD15]

The major reason that makes me hesitate to keep mint is that it has high power usage (on my laptop), even through I tried TLP and nvidia optimus I merely could get over 4 hours of runtime, compared to about 7 hours on Pop OS even before installing TLP. For a laptop battery life is not something I like to lose...

Have you tried a program in Software Manger called "cpupower-gui" yet? It's helped extent my usage in my older Dell Broadwell cpu inspiron laptop from 2015 considerably setting it to "on demand" mode ( requires kernel 5.8 I think or newer for that option to show) but you also have the obvious settings like " powersaver" too.

It's worth trying out.

This makes me think for a while. Maybe Pop OS achieves better power efficiency because it uses kernel 5.8, and mint lacks on my machine because of kernel 5.4. I will upgrade the kernel and try this out, thanks!
Can you please tell how significant the change was?

[Pierre]

unless you are an resident of North America,
then you could have issues in obtaining an copy of Pop OS


it's an close call between Zorin O/S & LinuxMint OS


the Zorin O/S is more customised to look like an windows 7 system.
and thus is an strong contender . .
but this LinuxMint system would be popular in use-age.
- - they are both very good.

[TD15]

unless you are an resident of North America,
then you could have issues in obtaining an copy of Pop OS


it's an close call between Zorin O/S & LinuxMint OS

the Zorin O/S is more customised to look like an windows 7 system.
and thus is an strong contender . .
but this LinuxMint system would be popular in use-age.
- - they are both very good..

AFAIK Pop OS is open source right? I do not live in NA but obtaining an ISO was just as easy as getting the mint one.

[Moem]

The major reason that makes me hesitate to keep mint is that it has high power usage (on my laptop)

See, there we have it. Your reasoning is based on circumstances that I'm not sharing. So how could my opinion have any value here?

[TD15]

The major reason that makes me hesitate to keep mint is that it has high power usage (on my laptop)

See, there we have it. Your reasoning is based on circumstances that I'm not sharing. So how could my opinion have any value here?

I benefitted from something actually, some nice person suggested me a possible fix for my problem, I think upgrading kernel will do the trick.

[Moem]

I benefitted from something actually, some nice person suggested me a possible fix for my problem, I think upgrading kernel will do the trick.

That is very good news. And the fact that you eventually mentioned the actual problem was key here. Not anyone's irrelevant opinions (including mine) on the three distros you were considering.
Another road to get to the same result would have been to post a question such as 'Why does my laptop's battery last such a short time when I'm on Mint?'

[TD15]

I benefitted from something actually, some nice person suggested me a possible fix for my problem, I think upgrading kernel will do the trick.

That is very good news. And the fact that you eventually mentioned the actual problem was key here. Not anyone's irrelevant opinions (including mine) on the three distros you were considering.
Another road to get to the same result would have been to post a question such as 'Why does my laptop's battery last such a short time when I'm on Mint?'

In fact, I asked about this issue here about half a year ago, and Pjotr suggested me to do a kernel update to 5.8. I don't remember why I didn't try to do the upgrade (I was a total Linux noob back then...). I guess mistakes are the greatest teachers.

[MurphCID]

I have not used Zorin, but I have used Mint and Pop. Pop OS is nice, solid, and well made, but not for me. I cannot stand Gnome (3rd rate Mac OS knock off), and I am used to having the Mint right-click to uninstall software. I know you can use different DE's on POP, and I tried, but there are certain quirks on POP that just cause me to grind my teeth. Either would work, but I like Mint, partially since it was the first distribution I have used since I came back to Linux that fits my "mental map" for Operating systems. Plus it works, it just works.

[JesseRBassett]

Having used and paid for Zorin Ultimate, I always ended up installing the cinnamon de onto it. I couldn't stand the default setup. As for POPos I did not like gnome at all. So I find solace and comfort in using Linux Mint.