Vilros Raspberry Pi case + keyboard Modifications

Vilros made a case for the Raspberry Pi that includes a Wireless Keyboard, which sort of turns the Raspberry Pi 4 into a facsimile of an old 8-bit home computer, like a Commodore 64 or Atari 800XL. It's a pretty cute case, but I immediately saw the potential for improving it. I got a slightly-used one for $25 on ebay, and sort of felt that the keyboard was actually crappier than the standard Raspberry Pi flat keyboards in use. The implementation of Vilros's design was really poor, having way too many screws, and a method of turning on the keyboard and changing its batteries that just seemed to be too inconvenient for users to actually put up with.

My idea was to simply change the keyboard out with a wired mechanical keyboard, which was an improvement in and of itself, and since it was wired, we didn't have to worry about the complicated battery-replacement scheme that Vilros made. Plus, it's a mechanical keyboard, which is actually better looking as well as better performing.

So, this is the product. For all intents and purposes, it just looks like another keyboard with a trackpad, like my Logitech one in the background. What I found was that the keyboard was an already-existing Vilros product, and they just made the Raspberry Pi-4 case to house it. The fact that it was an after-thought really shows.

Here is the Raspberry Pi official keyboard for comparison. If the Raspberry Pi keyboard had a trackpad it would be the same size all around.

So, here are the two examples of poor design in this keyboard/case. First, to turn the keyboard on and off, you have to remove a little door from the top of the case, and stick a long instrument into it to slide the on/off switch. Sort of lazy, if you ask me. They didn't redesign the keyboard; they just made it difficult to turn it on. Changing the batteries is even worse, You have to remove the Raspberry pi and the panel that it's screwed to, then you have to struggle to get the battery cover off of the bottom of the keyboard. The cover on mine was kind of loose, so it didn't want to stay closed. But since I'm not using it, no problem. By the way, I gave the keyboard to my girlfriend for her computer, and she rejected it after just an hour of using it. It's a truly awful kayboard in general.

So the Raspberry Pi fits on a small plastic base that is held on by no less than 6 screws. But wait -- you can't remove it without removing several screws that hold the case together. Yeah -- the top and bottom part of the case have several over-laps that sandwich the Raspberry Pi holder. So you basically need to remove all 12 screws from the whole case. Nothing is easy on this piece of crap.

So the replacement keyboard I chose was a Red Dragon USB keyboard. It has RGB, but it's actually cheaper than similar keyboards without RGB. Go Figure. It has real Cherry-style switches, and several light-up modes.

Getting the keyboard to fit in the case was easy. All I needed was a place for the keyboard to rest that didn't interfere with how it was screwed together. I had some circuit board mounting posts left over from another project (Yeah, they're like $5 for a bag of 50!), and what I did was remove the keyboard from it's plastic case. It was connected with 8 small screws. I connected the keyboard to the posts, using the screws that came with the posts, and then test-fit it. The top of the keyboard needed to be raised, because of the slant of the case. This was easily resolved by putting small wooden risers made from shims that you get at a hardware store.

So I decided to add a USB 3.0 Hub to make this a raspberry Pi that had a little extra Oomph. Since the Vilros case has the Raspberry Pi sitting in the rear corner, with the ports all facing outside, I realized i had to do one of two things -- find a USB 3.0 GPIO board (not possible because nothing will fit on the GPIO; the top of the case would no longer fit), or use a 180-degree usb plug, like the Argon one case with the M.2 support does. I decided on the 180-degree plug. They are available on Amazon and elsewhere, and apparently, they've gotten thinner and smaller.

Here you can see the 180-degree USB plug. The second picture is the cut I had to make around the plastic case top so that I could fit it in. I connect the USB hub to the plug, and the keyboard and future USB hard drive will get connected internally.

I decided to go with a Raspberry Pi with 8GB. This computer was going to be used for Linux and emulation, so I wanted great performance. Having used the 8GB model for a while now, it really handles other distributions of Linux rather well, and I've been using it as my bench computer. Based on a tip about the powered USB hub I had and powering the Raspberry Pi with a couple of wires on the GPIO, I decided to go that route. The USB Hub would provide the power to the Raspberry Pi, so instead of plugging in the USB-C cable, I'd just plug in the hub, using it's more powerful power supply, and run a USB cable to the GPIO, which would be cut and fited with the appropriate jumpers. I was even able to attach 2 small fans that fit in the case gaps perfectly.

The red plastic border around the case was a baffle I made to just hide the insides of the case from being seen through the cracks. The keyboard left a big gap on one side, and you could see wires and things under the space bar, so I added the plastic border to hide it all.

So this is the finished product. Of course, no sooner than I finished it than I decided I wanted to add more stuff to it and do things differently. I want to add an internal M.2 drive, but I also want to change video output to full-size HDMI. The micro-hdmi connection is utterly the worst, whether you're on a Raspberry Pi 4 or anything else that uses one. I want to find a new way of hooking everything up, so I can glue the micro-HDMI cable in place, to prevent it from being moved, and have the full-size HDMI port on the back.

It's going to take work to get that done -- I practically have to re-do everything.

A more or less complete guide to Switching from Windows 10 to Linux

This is a guide for people who have MIcrosoft Windows 10, and who love their precious Windows 10 Software, but seriously want to be free from the cost, licensing, and hassle of owning the Windows Operating system. You have already made the decision that Windows has to go, and just need the right push, the right endorsement, or anything short of the "right disaster" to make you hop the fence.

Hopefully, this article will give you a roadmap and hopefully more information than you need to not just jump that fence, but somersault over it, set it on fire in mid-air, and land on both feet in a striking pose.

Why Switch to Linux? My Windows works fine!

Most people don't need to switch. If you're happy using Windows, then keep it. Being a Linux user requires a little more attention, a little more learning, and a little more do-it-yourself-ing. It's not for everyone.

My reasons for switching to Linux are:

• Windows licenses cost money. Sometimes, when you perform surgery on a system, and you change out the main board, Microsoft wants to check your license, and make sure that you have a legit one. Sometimes their own internal processes to check the license forces you to have to call them up and waste time trying to prove your license is real and legit. It's an inconvenience. Linux is 100% free in most cases. It's reliable, secure, and everything that Windows ain't.
• Windows has always had issues with bugs. Often times, they will have updates that screw up your system. Sometimes, you will get thse blue screens for inexplicable reasons, and troubleshooting them is such a pain that you often just end up reinstalling it. Thankfully, since Windows 10, I haven't had to re-install Windows on my system, but I know plenty of people who have. There are some updates that may freeze up your system, and many users often wait a long time and give up, rebooting their PC only to brick it -- ruin the partition on the Hard drive so that it needs to be reformatted or just have Windows reinstalled.
• Windows is constantly getting hacked and attacked by viruses and malware. There are so many viruses and pieces of malware out there on the internet, that you really need to purchase anti-virus/anti-malware solutions. With Linux, and to a lesser extent, Macintosh computers, this generally doesn't happen. Linux is a secure operating system, and it's difficult to write viruses or malware for it that can break through it.
• Windows has a strong tendency to include bloatware and spyware in their updates. The last couple of large updates to WIndows 10 filled it up with all sorts of advertising-enablement features that were automatically turned on, and had to be shut down if you didn't want to see ads on your start menu or in your notification area. At my job, where I am a PC/Windows tech, plenty of the ads delivered to user as a direct result of that update, were PHONY VIRUS WARNINGS -- ads which inform the user that "Microsoft has detected a virus in your computer, and you need to call microsoft ASAP to remedy the situation." The ads were fake, and some user would follow the link, only to be asked for a credit card number. I have a growing list of settings to shut off whenever I have a ticket for this issue.
• Linux has evolved to the point where it is as easy, if not easier to use than Windows.
• Linux is faster. It has low overhead, and without dozens of background processes running, programs run faster. The user interface is not so different from Mac OSX or Windows, so it's easy to figure out. Best of all, it rarely crashes with such catastrophic results, or indeciferable error messages, like Windows.
• Linux takes up far less space on your hard drive than Windows. A default install of Windows take 15GB or more of storage on your HDD. Most Linux installs take up 512MB to 4GB of space on your hard drive -- the larger installs of course, are ones that come with a lot of applications pre-installed. Most Linux distributions I've seen come with complimentary LibreOffice, and a few other apps which you can easily remove.

I could go on, but the bottom line is that LInux is a much smaller, more powerful, more secure, and generally non-buggy operating system than Windows, and it's free -- you are not bound by a license agreement, and are free to do what you want without a corporation bugging you about your license key or preventing you from making changes that you want.

BEFORE YOU SWITCH

The single most important advice in all of this is that you start learning how to use Linux. The more familiar you are with it, it's desktop interfaces (there are choices of different desktop environments, but don't worry), and the control panels, the easier your transition will be -- just like learning a foreign language to make traveling to a foreign country easier, learning Linux before you start installing it will let you do everything more smoothly.

The Terminal, which is Linux's version of the Command Prompt in Windows, is also important to become familiar with. You may not need to use it right away, but at least know how to find it so you can run it when you need it. Some fixes and applications need you to type in a bunch of command lines -- and cutting and pasting them into the command line will make it go quicker.

You may want to set up an old computer with Linux to play with, or buy a $35 Raspberry Pi, which is a super-cheap, and super-popular pocket-sized computer that runs on Linux, and you can select many different Distributions of Linux that will work on it. If you don't use the official "Raspberry Pi OS", which is a variantion of Debian Linux, I recommend Ubuntu Mate, which is one of the more widely used distributions that works on practically any computer. Of course, after you have created the bootable USB drive with Linux on it, you can just use that until you get all of your Windows software moved over.

Dave's Special Method for Switching

I have developed a method for doing this migration that will keep you safe and free from worry. It involves buying a new SSD for your computer to replace the one in your computer that has Windows on it. You will want to keep that around for weeks or months after you're all switched over, in case you forget something, or if you have difficulty with an important app that just doesn't want to run in Linux, or if you decide that it's not for you and you want to go back to Windows 10. It's a safety feature that will prevent you from going insane. Make sure you get an external USB for your Linux SSD. Whether you are using a 2.5" SATA SSD or a tiny NVME SSD, USB enclosures are available and cheap.

Essentially, you're going to install Linux on this external SSD, and boot off ot it while you're in the process of transitioning and getting your software straightened out. Your computer will have a keyboard combo to press during the POST and startup. Usually it's the F2 key, Del, F12 or something else -- most computers have a brief message telling you which key to press for the boot menu. Basically, once Linux is installed on it, you turn on the computer, and hit the key that brings it to the boot menu. Select the USB drive Linux is on, and it will boot from it. If you don't hit the key to go into the Boot menu, it'll simply boot into Windows. Only when you are all set, and certain you don't have anything left on your Windows drive that you need to move, you will then open up your PC, and swap out the Linux SSD for your Windows SSD -- put the Windows SSD into the External case, and the Linux SSD onto the Main board of the computer (or connect it to the SATA cable).

Things you will need

So as I mentioned above, you will need an SSD and external USB 3.0 case for it.

You will also need a 16GB USB memory stick. This will be used to put the Linux Setup image onto. You boot off of it, install Linux onto the SSD, then hang on to it for emergencies or if you want to install it onto more computers. You will also need to download either Rufus or Balena Etcher so that you can burn the image onto the USB Stick.

Click here to Download Rufus

Click here to download Balena Etcher

Note: I am only going to cover using Balena Etcher in my instructions. If you're using Rufus, I'll assume you know more of less how to use it.

Pick a Linux Distribution

There are so many choices for Linux out there -- some free, some cost a little, and some are special versions that may not be for a beginner. I am going to keep this simple. I am going to write this for Ubuntu and Zorin. Zorin essentially is Ubuntu, but it has a specially modified desktop environment that lets you make the desktop look like Windows 7/10/11. or Mac OSX. I recommend Zorin for beginners, because it is made for Windows and Mac users looking to transition. It's look, feel, and control panels are very familiar looking, and it will give you less trouble. What makes Zorin so good for Windows users is that all of the Windows Compatibility software is pre-configured for you, which will let you run a lot of Windows apps out of the box!

Ubuntu 20.4, or Ubuntu Mate, will take a few extra steps to make it run Windows software, but it's not too difficult, and I'll include little sections detailing these steps. You have a choice of many Linux distributions, so if you already used Manjaro or Suze, Pop!OS, Debian, or others, feel free to use them, but realize that you may need to modify some of the terminal commands.

Click here to download Zorin

Click Here to download Ubuntu 20.4

Pay close attention to where you save your downloaded *.img files. They tend to go into your Downloads folder (C:\users\your name\downloads). Just make sure you know what their names are for the next few steps.

What you're going to do is make sure you have your 16GB USB stick ready, and the location of your Linux distribution's downloaded *.img file. In some cases, instead of a *.img file, it may be a *.zip, *.7zip, *.arc, or other compressed format. If you can't open it and see the contents of the compressed file, you may be looking for another program. Generally, though, Winzip or other popular, and hopefully free applications will unzip whatever format it's in. You may want to save the *.img file to your desktop to make it easy to find.

Open up Balena Etcher or Rufus. Balena is pretty easy and straightforward, where Rufus is a bit more flexible and has more expert features, but we don't need to worry about those for now.

Imaging the USB stick with Balena Etcher

Balena is a 3-step process -- 3 clicks and you're done.

Step 1: Click the button that says "Select Image". Browse to where you saved the Ubuntu or Zorin image file. Click OK.

Step 2: Select Target. Click on the Select Target button. If your 16GB USB Stick is not selected, Select it from what is available. If you don't see your USB stick, try another.

Step 3: Flash the image! Click the Flash! button, and watch the progress. It will do 2 passes -- one write pass and one verification pass.

Just wait for the process to complete, and when done, Balena will tell you to remove the USB stick. Set it aside for the moment of truth!

The Moment of Truth

Turn off your computer.
Insert your newly flashed Unbuntu or Zorin installer into a USB port.
Insert the external SSD that you are installing Linux on into a USB 3.0 port. You need to use USB 3.0 because it is as fast as an internal SSD.

Turn on your computer, and keep tapping the key that will let you select which drive to boot off of.
Follow the online prompts and make sure that you select the full version. You want to install, not try. Make sure you select the empty SSD that you got for this. You want to make sure you don't over-write Windows.

Here is a link to the official, updated, install process for Zorin, curtesy of Zorin. I'd have taken the screen shots and done it myself, but each time there is a a major revision to anything, and it chages the install process, my page will be out of date, and Zorin's won't be. Just remember the following selections:

• Select "Try or Install Zorin OS".
• Select "Install Zorin OS".
• For purposes of using my external SSD method, select "Erase Disk and install Zorin".

If you's prefer a video of the install process, CLICK HERE

When you're done installing Zorin, skip ahead to the "Welcome to Linux" section. Ubuntu is a little trickier to install. I can't detail much of it here, but I'll provide a link to it and a video.

CLICK HERE for an HTML guide to installing Ubuntu.

CLICK HERE for a video detailing how to install Ubuntu.

Installing Wine in Ubuntu

So this is where you need to use the Ubuntu Terminal. I'm assuming that you sort of know what a program launcher is. It's the big menu on the side that has all the icons on it for various programs. You need to click on it and look for an icon that looks like one of these.

In the terminal, you'll need to type the following commands, and wait for them to finish processing. So your first trick to learn, because you really should not have to do all that typing, is copy the text of the commands, then paste them into the terminal window. TO copy the text, Click on the first character in the text, and drag the mouse to the end until the last character on the line is highlighted, and press the CTRL + C keys. To passte it into the terminal window, click on the terminal window, and press SHIFT+CTRL+V. This is only slightly different from how it's done in Windows.

The commands to run are:

• sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
• sudo apt update
• wget -qO- https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key | sudo apt-key add -
• sudo apt install software-properties-common
• sudo apt-add-repository "deb http://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ $(lsb_release -cs) main"
• sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-stable
• winecfg

The Software Center (Store)

You may want to check the software store in Ubuntu, to see if there is a less complicated way to install Wine. You need to familiarize yourself with the software Center. It's icon looks like this

It's located on the launch bar with the other programs. By default, it should be on it.

Tons of software can be installed using the software center. After you're done, you may want to check out some Linux apps, to see what's out there. For now, though, we want just want to install the last few apps we need for Windows compatibility. Type the following names into the search bar when you've opened the software center. When you find it, Click on Install, and it should install it.

• Steam for Linux (Proton)
• Lutris
• Wine
• Wine Tricks
• Play On Linux
• DOSBox-X

If there were no errors, and you're done, you are now more or less ready to install Windows apps!

Welcome to Linux! Achivement unlocked! You have installed Linux and are about to be able to run Windows programs. At this point many people, especially non-gamers, can stop, and just keep playing with the Linux environment to become more familiar with it. There are a number of apps that are cross-platform, that you can look for -- VLC by Videolan (Video Player), Audacity (Music creation, sequencing, and editing), Notepad Plus Plus (a more versatile Notepad just like Windows, but better) Libreoffice (usually included with many Linux distributions, which is an MS Office clone), Thunderbird or Evolution email programs, Solitaire, etc. When you have enough Native Linux programs that perform the functions of your favorite Windows programs, you are done. DosBox (software that helps you run older applications that predate Windows, usually old games)

A brief word on applications, first. It is always preferable to search for and install native Linux versions of your Windows software. If there is a native Linux version of it, and you don't have to pay for a new version, favor that over the pure Windows app. It can avoid issues that may be inconvenient, like having to edit a configuration file or just having it run a little slower. Besides -- native Linux appas are optimized to run in Linux, and there is generally less overhead which can affect performance.

Before installing Windows apps, there is a convenient website you may want to visit.

Wine HQ User's Guide

The WineHQ user's guide will let you search for a specific Windows app's compatibility. Thousands of applications have been tested, and information on tweaking (changing a few settings) them to work best for you is located there. I think it's best to consult this site before installing a Windows app, because if one doesn't work, or works, but is buggy, solutions will be here.

For installing Windows applications, in many cases, you can just start installing them once you have them on USB memory sticks or you have downloaded them. Wine, if installed properly, should notice the *exe file, and lanch, then it will guide you through installing the Windows apps. Each time you install one, check it out. Most will work just fine, but some may require tweaking.

STEAM!

Launch Steam and log into your steam account. It looks just like the Windows version, and that's deliberate. For years now, Steam has been starting a small revolution, by making sure game developers use a series of Application tools and runtime libraries, like Vulkan. Little did Microsoft realize, Vulkan was creating a gaming standard that allowed games sold on steam to run on multiple platforms without modification. Steam supports multiple kinds of computers, gaming consoles and other devices, and having a universal standard meant that games could easily be made to work on multiple platforms. So the genie was out of the bottle.

Look at your list of purchased games, and browse them one at a time. When you click on one, and see that the "install" button is green, that means that the game is available in a Linux version! You can just install it without extra steps, and it will work. For other games, however, you will see that the install button is greyed out. Don't worry!

Save this link: Wine HQ User's Guide. You will visit this link to check each of your Steam Apps. Using the search feature, look up each of your Steam apps, and see what the site assesses. You should find that the vast majority will be gold and platinum, which means they work out of the box, right after install, with little or no settings. When you find one of your games, and it gets Gold or Platinum, or says that it will play with a few settings changes, this is what you need to do to install it:

• Run Steam client. On the top left, click on Steam and then on Settings.
• Now, you’ll see an option Steam Play in the left side panel. Click on it and check the boxes Enable Steam Play for supported titles (You can play the whitelisted Windows-only games) and Enable Steam Play for all titles (You can try to play all Windows-only games)
• Click OK to exit back to your Steam library.

• Right-Click on a title in your Steam Library.
• Select "Properties"
• Click on the Compatibility tab.
• Check the box "Force the use of a specific Steam Play Compatibility Tool".
• Make sure that underneath that check box, it says "Proton x.xx" (whatever the latest version number is).
• If it doesn't say Proton, click on it, and select the latest version of Proton from the list.
• close the properties window.

You should see that the app you just changed the settings for now has a gree INSTALL button. You can now install it, and it will essentially be the same download and install process that, as a Steam user, you should already be familiar with. After it installs, you will be able to play it, and in most cases, it will work the same or better than it did in Windows.

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED! You can now run Windows games in Linux, and have no reason to go back to Windows again!

Here is another useful link: ProtonDB

ProtonDB, used in conjunction with WineHQ (from above) are useful resources that will help you find out ahead of time if any given app or game has issues. They also offer tweaks, advice, info, and news. They are useful, and will be as you continue the transition away from Windows.

Here are some more useful links:

• PC Mag: How to PC Games On Linux
• The Ultimate guide for Steam Play Compatibility Tools like Proton
• How To Run Windows Applications On Linux [Beginners Guide]
• Tech Republic: Zorin OS 16 is exactly what a Linux desktop distribution should be

Here are some great videos showing all of this stuff in action, so you can see what the future holds for you.

• Explaining Computers.Com's look at Zorin
• 20 Things You MUST DO After Installing Zorin OS 16 (Right Now!)
• 6 Things to Know When Switching to Linux from Windows
• Ubuntu 20.04 for Windows Users
• The BEST Linux distributions for switching from Windows to Linux
• Running your Windows games on Linux - Setting up SteamPlay and Proton

Since I switched, it's been one great thing after another. One of the most fun things about Linux are some of the tools you can download to customize the desktop to look more or less the way you'd like it to look. In a few of my previous blog postings, I give instructions on downloading and using some of them. Read some of the earlier posts and try out things like Variety, Videolan's VLC Media Player, Kodi, and more.

After a few weeks of being Linux-Only...

So, one of the truly easy things for me about switching to Linux was that so many programs I rely on for my daily usage are already available in Linux. The following programs are what I use on a daily basis on my own computers:

• Firefox
• Chrome
• Thunderbird Email
• Kodi
• Videolan VLC Media Player
• Steam
• Notepad ++
• Balena Etcher
• Acrobat reader
• DosBox
• Raspberry Pi Imager
• MAME

Other programs I use that are not really availabvle in Linux have Free alternatives that are essentially good clones that work just their commercial counterparts:

• Libre Office (works almost exactly like Microsoft Office)
• GIMP (Works a lot like Adobe Photoshop)
• Kdenlive (A video editing suite that is easy but powerful)

The switch was easy, because I had to give up so few applications, and the alternative ones didn't have much of a learning curve, and had most, if not all of the features I needed. The only hurdle was getting modern PC Games, which were all written for Windows, to work. Thankfully, these didn't really pose any obstacles at all, thanks to the combination of Zorin already having all the required software pre-installed, but because all of the games I was really concerned with were in my Steam account, and Steam has been working hard to make Windows unnecessary for games.

Zorin OS: A Possible Windows alternative that runs Windows software?

Do you remember back in 2001, when a Challenger to MIcrosoft Windows emerged, and claimed that it's "Lindows" operating system was Linux that could run Windows software? Many people were intrigued by the possibilities that this hinted at -- no longer would we be dependent on MIcrosoft's buggy software. I watched with delight, and read all I could about it, wondering if they got it working. Then Microsoft sued them, and they just disappeared... Sort of. Kind of.

Just a few years earlier, in 1998, Wine, a Linux API that promised to run Windows programs under Linux, inspired the developers of Lindows to incorporate it into their distribution of Ubuntu. They may very well have accomplished their goal, had they not named it "Lindows", and gone around proclaiming that it worked better than it actually did. The bottom line is that Wine was around since 1998, and at the time, Windows 95 and 98 ruled. Wine actually achieved major accomplishments, and people reported that it really worked. It wasn't perfect. You still had to be fairly skilled to get it working, and well, let's face it, Windows and Mac OSX were designed to be used by any schmuck with a computer. Everything was really easy and designed around a GUI that everyone knew already. Mention Linux to the average Windows or Mac user, and they would likely have said "Huh?". After all, at the time, installing Linux was not a magic carpet ride. It was relatively new, and drivers for various pieces of hardware were difficult to find. You had to recompile the kernel each time you updated something, and well, it was an OS that required a special kind of masochism to use. Today, it's a breeze!

After the near demise of Lindows, Linux continued to improve, and so didn't Wine. Even with the many OS upgrades that Windows went through -- 98, 98SE, Millenium, XP, Windows 7, 8, and 10 -- Wine continued to improve and keep up with each revision of Windows. It actually works, and has worked in the over 20 years of development it's been through. I never tried it, because most of my Linux experience comes from Single Board Computers like the Raspberry Pi, and I know that running Windows apps on a Raspberry Pi is just not really done, because it's not x86-based. But I digress...

So recently, I seriously thought about moving over to Linux. I got a copy of Twister OS for my Raspberry Pi, and was really impressed with how you could mix and match the features of different operating systems to your heart's content, and it had things like DOSBOX to let you run old DOS programs. I quickly fell in love with it, and then was watching my favorite YouTube computer nerd, Christopher Barnatt, and he did a video about Zorin OS. The more I thought about it, the more I decided I had to try it.

So this past weekend, I paid $39 and downloaded Zorin 16 Pro. The difference between Pro and the Free version is that Pro has a ton of apps analogous to what you get with Windows or Mac OSX out of the box, and though I knew how to find and install many of those apps myself, I felt I should contribute to the Zorin project and get some authorized support if I needed it. SO I downloaded the 8GB image, burned it to a USB Stick, and installed it on a spare mini-NUC-clone I had. Yeah -- 8GB is all it takes. It's nice and compact, yet full of features. After the easiest OS install of my life, I was ready. Sound worked. Video playback was choppy, and youtube was kind of bad, too. But then I went to the update center, and found that it wanted to install a bunch of software updates. After the software updates were done, and I rebooted, the video issues were resolved. I think that when you install it, it puts generic video drivers on, then when you do the software updating, it actually detects what video hardware you have and installs the latest driver for it. It's what a lot of operating systems do to avoid crashing during install.

I quickly installed and configured Kodi, and the Fen addon, and then started playing around. The Amazon Prime video player worked. Chrome and Firefox work better than in other Linux distros that I've installed. Chrome synched up with our Google account. So I brought it downstairs, hooked it up to the TV, and it's now our TV PC, which will guaranty that we actually use it and learn more of it's secrets.

For my next installment, I'm going to start using Wine to set up some Windows apps. I have a short list of things I want to really try, before moving onto big Steam-powered games, like the Halo Master Chief Collection.

Software Installation

So Zorin is so modern that like Windows and Mac OSX, it has an app store. Unlike the MIcrosoft and Apple apps stores, however, pretty much everything is free. The App Store is just one of several ways you can install things under Zorin. On the App Store, I found most of the free useful apps I was already using in Windows. I like Notebook++, Raspberry Pi Imager, and Balena Etcher. Balena is the only one of the three that isn't in the store. However, after a brief search, I went to the Balena website, and downloaded the Windows version. This is where Zorin gets interesting. Immediately after opening the download, I got prompted by WINE. It took over the install and guided me through with a series of prompts (which I just selected defaults on), and when all was said and done, there was the Balena Etcher icon in my programs list, and it actually worked! So basically, if your app is an *.EXE or *.COM file, WINE is set up to auto-detect it as Windows software, and offer to install it for you. This works well most of the time.

Steam

So I searched for and installed Steam. It is the Linux version of Steam, so as of this writing, only apps that are made for Linux will be discussed. The good news about the Linux Steam app is that all of my Windows apps show up -- everything I have purchased through steam is there. When you hover over the items, the Install button lights up if it can be installed under your OS. Sadly, only Osmos, Black Mesa, and Doombringer were able to be installed. But they all work perfectly! In fact, Both Black Mesa and Doombringer, which are both FPS games, have much quicker load times. It's a welcome improvement. Even better was the fact that Black Mesa had all of my save games and workshop subscriptions already installed, which was a great surprise!

Osmos, which I don't really play any more, works the exact same way as it does in Windows, but it's just a 2D game, so not as complicated.

Do not install DOXBOX unless it's DOSBOX-X. For some reason, even though I've installed DOSbox on numerous computers and on numerous operating systems, the same version doesn't seem to work correctly. I was unable to mount a C Drive. I settled for DOSBOX-X, which is the same program, but with a more useful user interface. The mount command works as it should, and I was able to play Doom, Star Control, and a few other oldies.

Though there are numerous ports of Quake for Linux, I am not sure if any of them are like Dark Places, offering enhanced effects for modern graphics cards. More research is needed. I'll have to get back to that later. What I really want to do is get something like Battlezone redux working -- which may require me to install the Windows version of Steam, using WINE. I'll have to play with that and do a little how-to about it.

Addendum

So the rest of my Zorin Experience went great. After reading an article about Steam for Linux, I saw how simple it actually is to get all of my favorite games working. In Steam, you simply click on your game, select Properties, then click on the Compatability tab. Check the box "Force the use of a specific Steam Play Compatibility Tool". Then make sure that underneath it, it says "Proton x.xx" (whatever the latest version number is). Mine defaults to Boxtron, whic is more for older DOS apps. After you have selected Proton, just close the pop-up windows, and the install button for the game is now Green. INSTALL AWAY!

Some apps may give an error on install that tell you it can't be installed. Usually it's because Boxtron is still selected as the compatibility tool. Just go back to properties and make sure it's set to Proton. Reinstall.

After installing things like Battlezone Redux, Halo Master Chief Collection, and Call Of Duty Black Ops, I was surprised and psyched. Everything worked! No tweaking, and no issues! At that point, I purchased Doom: Eternal, and spent about 4 hours or more installing this 50GB game. When all was said and done, IT WORKED PERFECTLY. So my transition is now complete. I only have to account for a few random Windows applications that I occasionally use, but they're not critical to me, and I can likely find Linux native versions of them.

GOOD BYE WINDOWS!