Back in October 2007 openSUSE 10.3 hit the streets in style as it always does, and it came packed with the features that keep geeks on the bleeding-edge. In true Novell style openSUSE 11.0 is busting down the doors with over 200 new features including a redesigned installer, faster package management, KDE 4, GNOME 2.22, Compiz Fusion, and more!
Personally I’ve been an openSUSE user for years, but have found myself migrating towards Ubuntu because of the broader support. For some reason I’ve just never been able to warm up to the GNOME interface, and I find myself missing the Kickoff menu that can be found in openSUSE’s KDE desktop:
(GNOME on left, KDE on right — Click to Enlarge)
And, of course, openSUSE 11.0 has even more of the Compiz Fusion goodness that we’ve all come to love. Compiz Fusion, for those of you that don’t know, is what gives Linux all of the fancy effects you’ve likely seen in video demonstrations, such as the 3D cube for managing your virtual desktops. The problem is that everyone wanted to get these effects on their system, but the darn configuration manager is so overwhelming that most users (at least the ones I know) never bothered.
openSUSE 11.0 has conquered that problem by offering a simple Compiz Fusion configuration manager, which is especially important since Compiz Fusion is automatically installed on all openSUSE 11.0 setups. What you can do now is select from various profiles depending on how extreme you want the effects to be. You can choose to have the minimal number of effects applied, or you can go all out. Here’s a screenshot of the simple configuration manager, along with the “sphere” representation of your open windows:
Don’t worry, if you prefer the advanced configuration manager for Compiz Fusion that’s still available as well.
As if all that wasn’t enough you’ll also get Firefox 3.0 for browsing the web, Banshee 1.0 for playing media (including support for iPods & podcasts), OpenOffice.org 2.4 for all of your office tasks, and NetworkManager 0.7 which supports EV-DO cards. All of this and more is available in openSUSE 11.0!
Don’t you have to pay £120 for SUSE?
Say WHAT?
SLED might cost a few bucks ([novell.com])
But openSUSE is totally free ([software.opensuse.org]).
I’m downloading it at this very moment.
Oh good, I got confused.
Thanks
:)
openSUSE is definitely free. If you’re a fan of the KDE interface you should definitely check this out.
Has been one good year for Linux so far…can’t wait for the next release cycle. 8)
How long will this 4.3GB file take to download on 8mb broadband connection?
Distro’s like opensuse and mandriva and fedora are trying their best to match up to ubuntu in desktop ;linux segment with quite a few interesting features. this seems a promising release. but my fav rmanins linux mint, which is based on ubuntu.I know Kde is much more customizable and feature filled, but gnome does it fine for me.
I think it would be between an hour and an hour and a half, assuming you max out your connection.
I actually had someone send in a tip on Linux Mint the other day, and I’ve been meaning to try it out. They said it’s nice because it includes the media plugins and a few other things?
I’m sorry, but people asking these kind of questions should not be using linux -AT ALL- :-P
I disagree. These people should be using Linux. At Ubuntu, we aim to serve human beings, not just techies, as our slogan shows. I presume other distros have similar objectives.
The easiest way to find out, nimicitor, is to just start the download. Modern browsers will give you an estimate on how long it’s going to take.
Nice response Jadd. Someone asking how long it will take for a download to complete doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be using Linux.
Wow, I’ve been wrestling with this Unity crap for so long that I thought there was nothing better than Gnome. I moved to openSUSE from Ubuntu because oneiric decided it wanted to look like mac os. Now that I see the screenshots of KDE, I think I’ll try that desktop. I should be able to move to KDE from Gnome without much agony right? Yes, relatively new to Linux, yes, I think I should be using Linux. and no…I don’t exactly know how long 4 gigs will take to download on an 8mbps connection! Left alone during non peak times I would venture to guess 30 mins or so-give or take…