The Zorin thing was a shameless astroturfing campaign. I guess it got the downloads they were looking for, but I was sure fucking tired of it by the time it was over.
And yes, it doesn't live up to the hype. It's a bunch of FOSS tools everyone else uses, but branded as "Zorin" tools. I have no problem with a distro trying to drum up users, but the way they go about it is embarassing.