Which do you prefer by desktop or recovery mode? They really seem similar to me but recovery mode seems faster.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=709578&page=2

To upgrade to a new release?
This has <i> always </i> worked for me;

Backup /etc/apt/sources.list to something like sorces.list-old . Edit sources.list to reflect the release, i.e. change all the squeeze to wheezy if you're moving to debian stable to testing.

At a shell prompt at a tty (NOT xterm, gnome-terminal etc), enter commands;

apt-get update
# updates apt to use the new repos you just changed in sources.list

apt-get install apt dpkg apt-get
# upgrade to new package managment utils straight away

apt-get dist-upgrade
# installs/ upgrades the rest of the system

It's just that simple! You're at a tty, so if something hangs X, you're not trapped with a partially installed/ broken OS.
Tip: Never skip a release cycle. Always dist-upgrade to the very next release.

http://www.zoringroup.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=98&p=388#p388

Thanks. I was trying to help a newbie at Zorin Groups.

Oops?
Sorry if I hijacked something. In which case, I'm doing it again, so Carry on, sir.

I liked your input.