Joining this week’s beta releases of Ubuntu 25.10, Fedora 43 and LMDE 7 is Zorin OS 18, available for willing testers to download from today.
Zorin OS 18 is the next major release of the popular Ubuntu-based Linux distribution and rebases atop of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, a sizeable uplift over the Zorin OS 17 branch that remains based on the older Ubuntu 22.04 series.
Foundational uptick side — newer kernel, drivers, Wayland et al — Zorin OS 18 offers a redesigned desktop with floating rounded panel, various new desktop features (including the terrific Tiling Shell), Web App creation tool, and more.
With this release, Zorin OS’s makers plan to ‘significantly improve’ productivity, bolster app compatibility and make the distro as the “ideal choice” for anyone looking to switch to Linux once Windows 10 reaches end of life on 14 October 2025.
A stable release of Zorin OS 18 is due “in the coming weeks”. Upgrades from Zorin OS 17 to 18 will also remade available shortly after the stable release — including for paid Zorin Pro users.
Zorin OS 18: What’s New?
In updating its foundational stack to the latest long-term support (LTS) version of Ubuntu, Zorin OS nets a huge range of performance improvements by way of the Linux kernel 6.14, new NVIDIA, Mesa and Intel GPU drivers, and core stack components like PipeWire and Wayland.
But the more interesting changes in this release is are on the user-facing side.
Zorin OS 18 offers what it describes as a ‘redesigned desktop’ with new features and visual improvements that will make life easier for anyone switching to Zorin OS 18 from Windows 10.
Underlying improvements from GNOME 46, like dynamic workspace indicator and Microsoft OneDrive integration in the file manger. This is pairs it forks of many popular GNOME Shell extensions like Tiling Shell.
“Simply drag a window to the top of the screen, and a pop-up will appear where you can drop it on one of the predefined layouts to arrange your windows. It’s that easy, no need to memorise complex keyboard shortcuts,” Zorin says of the feature.
I have to say: the inclusion of Tiling Shell is a smart choice. Zorin OS is keen to attract Windows 10 converts, and Tiling Shell was inspired by (but has since bettered) the Snap Assist feature Microsoft includes in Windows 11.
The desktop panel — a customised version of Dash to Panel — now uses a floating, rounded style by default, slightly short of the full screen width. This won’t be popular with everyone, so options are provided to switch to a more traditional fixed-width non-floating panel for those who prefer it.
Zorin’s default theme is also refreshed with lighter accents. Two new theme colours (yellow and brown) are included in Zorin OS 18. They work in light and dark mode (and adjust accordingly). While they might sound like unusual colour choices, in practice they look great:
A new Web Apps tool is included in Zorin OS 18 (the one made by Linux Mint). Turning a website into a more desktop-like app, with start menu entry, panel pinning and management independent of a web browser (any installed browser can be used).
Zorin OS position the Web Apps tool as option for those who need to use software not available on Linux, but which is available as a cloud-based version, such as Microsoft Office or Photoshop Web.
As covered earlier in the year, Zorin OS 17.3 replaced Firefox with Brave as the default web browser. That change holds; you won’t find Mozilla’s (increasingly maligned) browser bundled back. Zorin made the change due to the introduction of a ‘terms of service’.
Beyond that, Zorin OS widens its database of ‘suggestions’ in its (rather clever) Windows Compatibility tool. This detects software a user tries to install/run a Windows .exe file via Wine to recommend native Linux app alternatives they could try instead.
Finally, those who purchase Zorin OS 18 Pro will get access to 3 new desktop layouts: compact panel and equally compact app menu); Cinnamon-style layout (with an app menu design based on Linux Mint’s planned menu redesign), and one imitating elementary OS.
Zorin OS 18 will be supported with software updates and security patches until at least April 2029. This makes it the perfect choice for large deployments in businesses, schools, and organisations.
You can download the beta from the Zorin OS 18 Bea downloads page.