Linuxman's Ratings Guide
Required User Level: Beginner
Installation: Fully graphical with excellent default choices and support notes. One of the best.
Support: Excellent - forums, IRC & online documentation, very detailed and dedicated support through various online Suse communities
No. of CD's or DVD's: 1
Media: DVD-R

Everything you need to get started with Linux. The future of Linux here today!!

It's been a long time in coming, but it's finally here! Don't let the version number fool you! The openSUSE 11.3 release features new and massively improved versions of Firefox, OpenOffice.org, GNOME, KDE, and more than 1,000 open source desktop applications. openSUSE also includes a full suite of server software and a rich selection of open source development tools.

openSUSE 11.3 includes everything you need to make the leap to Linux. Enjoy your desktop experience with a complete, user-friendly set of applications for Web browsing, instant messaging, e-mail, and productivity with a Microsoft Office compatible office suite.

• OpenOffice.org office suite—compatible with Microsoft Office
• Immune to Windows viruses, spyware, and malware
• Instant messaging, e-mail, and Web browsing
• Powerful desktop search built-in
• Hundreds of productivity applications, games, and utilities!

KDE 4.4.4:

KDE SC 4.4.4, a major update to the KDE platform, which offers improved networking support, and better integration of Firefox and OpenOffice.org with the KDE environment.

GNOME 2.30.1:

GNOME 2.30.1, the latest release of the popular GNOME desktop, which includes a brand new theme, improved software update application, improvements in GNOME's Webcam and video application, and new functionality to prepare the GNOME platform for GNOME 3.0 in 2010. This includes a preview release of GNOME 3.0 with GNOME Shell.

OpenOffice:

OpenOffice.org 3.2.1 is a complete office productivity suite compatible with Microsoft Office. This release includes improvements to change tracking and collaboration in Writer, and major enhancements to the drawing application.

Mozilla Firefox 3.6.6:

Firefox gives users more control over their browsing experience, including a Ctrl-Tab switch between tabs and a private browsing mode.

New desktop kernel:

Desktops and servers can use the same kernel, but it's better to tune the kernel for the job at hand. That's why openSUSE now includes a desktop kernel specially tuned for desktop users.

• OpenOffice.org: an office productivity suite compatible with Microsoft Office
• Beagle: powerful desktop search
• Tasque: task management application
• Evolution and Kontact: integrated e-mail, calendaring, and address book

• ext4: The new default filesystem for new installations.
• Btrfs: Next generation Linux filesystem, has now a stable disk layout and can be configured in the YaST partitioner.
• YaST: YaST partitioner has seen many user interface improvements.

• Choqok: New KDE twitter and identi.ca client.
• Gwibber: New GNOME client with support for Twitter, identi.ca, Facebook etc.
• Kopete: The KDE client now has additional support for Facebook IM protocol.
• Social Plasmoids: KDE 4.3 comes with plasmoids for Twitter/identi.ca and openDesktop

• Immune to Windows viruses, malware, and trojans
• Built-in, easy-to-use firewall
• SpamAssassin spam filtering
• AppArmor security software
• Anti-phishing features in Firefox 3.6.x

• Eclipse
• MonoDevelop
• Kdevelop
• GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)
• MySQL und PostgreSQL databases

• Xen
• VirtualBox
• KVM

Hardware Requirements
openSUSE supports most PC hardware components. The following requirements should be met to ensure smooth operation of openSUSE:

• Processor: Intel: Pentium 1-4 or Xeon; AMD: Duron, Athlon, Athlon XP, Athlon MP, Athlon 64, Sempron or Opteron
• Main memory: At least 256 MB; 512 MB recommended
• Hard disk: At least 500 MB for minimal system; 3 GB recommended for standard system
• DVD Drive
• Sound and graphics cards: Supports most modern sound and graphics cards