HelixNotes and Zorin OS

Posted by MadaboutDana
Mar 10, 2026 at 02:26 PM

Bravo! Elementary OS is very nice (and in fact, Zorin OS Pro includes an Elementary-style interface, which is nice).

Installing Zorin on the MacBook Air was ridiculously easy. They’ve clearly included the Air as a “template” machine, so everything just works. Because I wasn’t using the Air, I gave Zorin full control (i.e. wiped and reformatted the hard drive), and everything was picked up: trackpad, audio, WiFi, Bluetooth, screen, etc. etc.

The result is a MacBook Air that’s substantially faster than when it was running the last version of MacOS that worked on a 2013 Air. But what’s impressed me most is the power management – when Zorin switches into suspend/sleep mode, it really does go to sleep. So the battery is lasting about twice as long as it did on MacOS (I’ve lightly customised the Gnome desktop to show processor and battery use – very easy to do). I’m actually seriously tempted to invest in the very last MacBook Air with an Intel processor – the 2020 model with Retina display (refurbed, obviously). That would be a dream!

I’ve been cautiously customising it and loading as many of my productivity apps as I possibly can to see how well they work.

HelixNotes is indeed fast and convenient (and yes, there is a “light” theme!). I’m also running Typora, which is one of the very best Markdown editors. But you can install apps like Workflowy too, as well as Zettlr, TextMaker (from SoftMaker), and of course I’ve got LibreOffice loaded just in case. Obsidian runs extremely well. I also run Octarine, although it’s a little fussier on Zorin than on other Linux distros (I install/update from the command line rather than downloads).

There are many other highly competent Linux text/markdown editors (such as Joplin); I’ve only recently started to experiment with them. Since I keep all my personal logs, journals, notes etc. in markdown format, it’s easy to access them from multiple apps provided you’ve got a suitable syncing system. Personally, I use Obsidian Sync and Nextcloud, but I also have repositories on Google Drive, Dropbox and IONOS HiDrive, all of which run quite happily on Linux.

Under the hood, Zorin is Ubuntu, but optimised for user-friendliness. That’s been the vision of the (I believe Spanish) development team from the start, and it really shows. You can do things in Zorin that would cause other distros to scream and crash (I’m looking at you, Linux Mint!); Zorin simply shrugs and deals with it.

I’m sure I’ll run into its limitations sooner or later. I’ve contemplated getting the Pro version (which is very reasonably priced), but really the only attraction is the extended selection of layouts; you can install the apps themselves from the Zorin Software store in any case.

The only downside? Zorin doesn’t run on ARM processors. Yet. (They are talking about it!) My efforts to run it on (a) Parallels Desktop, (b) UTM and (c) VirtualBox all came to naught (UTM probably would have done, but was ridiculously slow so I cancelled the installation). In short, you need an Intel or AMD 64-bit processor.

The Zorin website is very comprehensive! I advise a visit.

tberni wrote:
Hello MadaboutDana.
> >I’m also having a brilliant time with my process of ditching the GAFAM
>(no mean feat!).
> >Right now I’m working with elementary OS 8.1 (a Linux distro based on
>Ubuntu 24.04, beautiful and well-made, which works a treat on an Acer
>Swift 1 with 8GB+256GB of storage. I’ve signed up with Proton for email,
>cloud storage, a VPN, etc. And I’m experimenting with software solutions
>too (Obsidian, Logseq, Zotero, Zettlr), all of which are going quite
>well, learning even more about operating systems.
> >I was looking for a lightweight markdown editor for when Obsidian can be
>a bit too clunky. How about HelixNotes? Is the difference in start-up
>and agility noticeable? I’ve visited their website, can you edit with a
>light background?...
> >On another note, you say you’re having your Zorin experience on a 2013
>Macbook Air. I think that’s fantastic! Was the installation difficult?
>Do you know if it’s possible to install Zorin on a 2016 12” Retina
>Macbook?
> >Cheers and congratulations!