OpenSUSE 11.4 extensive review

I downloaded the latest version of openSUSE. It was 11.4.I was really amazed as it meets my pre-thoughts. The improved kernel and many other fixes make this version of openSUSE stable, secure and faster. The new gnome is much more stable and KDE is also repainted. Looks like openSUSE team has given a lot of attention towards artwork. This latest version stars up in a handful of seconds and shuts down in about 10 seconds, much faster than bloaty windows. This review is based on openSUSE 64 bit DVD download.

Installation

Earlier openSUSE installations were unresponsive by time. But however the new installation is amazingly responsive and easy. As like previous installations, it suggests a partition setup based on the existing partitions. I had a free space on logical partition and also had a 250 GB partition. It automatically suggested me to shrink the volume and create a new partition. It also detected windows partitions and assigned it the proper mount points. OpenSUSE installation prefers separate home partition which is a nice feature. It also provides the ability to use separate root password unlike Ubuntu and other Linux based operating system.

Installation from images really improved the installation speed. The kexec is enabled during setup which does the same thing as rebooting but without actually rebooting the PC. That’s why; unlike windows the setup doesn’t require restarts over restarts. During setup it automatically detects printers, TV card, network interface cards and setup it automatically for easier use.

Gnome

The new gnome "2.32.1" looks great. It responds much faster and with Compiz, the animations are superb and productive. On hovering a mouse on panel, it displays a quick preview of windows as like in windows 7.windows switching is also great. The pre-bundled wallpapers are handful but likely to be picked by hand. The font rendering is superior on my led screen. The windows are well managed and notifications are too provided the right place. Gnome’s “open in terminal” is the most useful feature that is available from early openSUSE and is also continued to 11.4.

KDE

KDE may look just as it was before but there has been great improvement in speed. The new Bluetooth manager namely "name" now solved my problem of not being able to pair with mobiles with MTK firmware’s (MTK is the main chipset for wide range of phones specially manufactured in Asia which includes Spice, Micromax, Zen, Iphone clones and many other phones. The widgets don’t show much difference but however they load data aster than before. openSUSE 11.3 had problem synchronizing weather with weather widget.

Internet

OpenSUSE 11.4 is equipped with Firefox 4 beta and will be upgraded to stable version when available. The new Firefox is well integrated with the environment and aims to provide the faster and safer browsing.

Also with empathy, it’s easy to connect with popular IM protocols like AOL, Yahoo, Gmail and much more. Linphone provides easy VOIP calling.

Productivity

OpenSUSE is perhaps the first major operating system released with LibreOffice, the new branding to OpenOffice.org office suite. The latest koffice also has some improvements.

32 bit support

With 32 bit libraries available, openSUSE can run many of 32 bit applications without problems. The 32 bit libraries for wine and a separate terminal are also available.

Repository and Non OSS software

OpenSUSE repository contains non-oss programs like flash player, adobe reader and much more to provide easy installation of these programs. The openSUSE codecs installer eliminates the need of doing a painful job of installing codecs. Packman repository also provides easy installations of software’s that are not allowed to be included in an open source operating system as per GPL. The updated VLC repository also provides VLC and its dependencies to openSUSE 11.4.

Security

The new Linux kernel "2.6.37" is patched with many updates and bug fixes. It is much stable too. The scheduler and resource manager has also been updated.

The AppArmor provides proactive defense against violating applications.

Virtualization

With Xen and Virtualbox, there is no need for separate OS installations as they works seamlessly with gnome or KDE. I had a virtual machine created in windows and I could immediately start that within a few clicks. Wine also runs without problems so as to run windows applications.

Verdict

OpenSUSE 11.4 may not be the operating system for one looking for lots of oh! and wah! but is suitable for one looking for a stable, productive and notably green operating system. To get accompanied with openSUSE, there are little things to know like knowing the naming conventions of Linux and handful of Linux jargon. However it is not as easy as using Ubuntu or its younger brothers. This is the operating system you must try.