Review: Novell OpenSUSE 11 Is For Power Users
Novell has added several features since version 10.3, notably the new Linux kernel 2.6.25, Xen 3.2 virtualization, windowing engine X.Org 7.3, GNOME version 2.22 and both versions 3.5.9 and version 4 of the KDE desktop manager. OpenSuse 11 also includes a new package management system that is intended to deliver better performance.
Novell is taking the everything-but- the-kitchen-sink approach with OpenSUSE 11, bundling all sorts of packages into the Live CD. There's no need to decide the desktop manager before downloading the Live CD—the 4.5-GB DVD includes GNOME, KDE and XFCE desktops. Novell does offer alternate Live CDs that have only GNOME or KDE and fewer packages for those users not willing to sit around waiting for a hefty download. The installer on the complete Live CD prompts the user to choose the desktop manager of choice (or all).
A lot has already been written about the new installer, but it really must be said again: It's slick. The easy-to-follow installer simplifies the process to the extent where it seems silly to even talk about the "difficulty" of installing Linux. Other distributions have all developed installers that have minimal screens, straightforward language and helpful defaults, but Novell has outpaced them all in terms of friendliness.
For the KDE desktop, there's the option to install either KDE 3.5 or the new KDE 4 (which we'd seen in Fedora 9). While KDE 4 is aesthetically pleasing, there are still some issues with the version so testing looked at KDE 3.5 and GNOME.
After installation and a reboot, which took about 45 minutes on the HP Compaq desktop (AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3800+ and 1 GB of RAM), OpenSUSE 11 opened up the GNOME 2.22 desktop. Novell consciously changed GNOME's look to be closer to KDE, which can be a little disconcerting to longtime GNOME users from other distributions. Not so much for OpenSUSE 10.3 users, since this was introduced in that version. The tweaked GNOME is very well organized, with all the system configuration panels in one place and a launch panel similar to the one in KDE.
The tweaks Novell has made to OpenOffice.org are one of its strongest features and a key differentiator from the rest of the pack. Novell has integrated VBA into OpenOffice, a big plus for businesses switching from Microsoft Office to OpenOffice. All those VBA-rich documents have a better chance of converting successfully under OpenSUSE's tweaked OpenOffice than the plain vanilla suite. Some of the changes have sped up application"loading, made recovering documents more efficient and don't slow down the hardware as much.
Considering all the interest in desktop virtualization, OpenSUSE 11 is very well positioned in that space. There are multiple VM options, from the Xen hypervisor and paravirtualized kernel, to Sun's VirtualBox software, and QEMU. The Microsoft hypercall adapter drivers fully support SUSE, so the Xen hypervisor can run fully accelerated on Microsoft's Hyper-V hypervisor on Windows Server 2008. It is also pre-configured with VMware's openvmtools and didn't require any extra work to run VMware Server or VMware Player. (Installing VMware Player on Ubuntu has always been a bit of a difficult process here at the Test Center.) This makes OpenSUSE a better sell for businesses interested in running VMs.
The beta versions were fraught with uneven Nvidia support for drivers. The testing desktop had some problems with its Nvidia card under the beta and RC versions. The problem was eventually fixed by looking for the drivers separately. With the final release version, it still didn't look like OpenSUSE had a way to automatically grab non-free drivers. Considering how ubiquitous Nvidia is, Novell should focus on making its Nvidia support a little bit more consistent—this has been a problem for other versions in the past, as well.
The Zypper update utility had some stability issues during the beta. While intended to feature significant speed and stability improvements for package management, there were still some problems in the RC version where the utility would find packages that had available upgrades but wouldn't actually apply them. A quick look at the final release reveals that that the updates are now being applied. On the other hand, the YaST panel is easy to use and simplifies the options for configuring and customizing the distribution.
OpenSUSE is powerful, and improvements in usability, performance and stability should attract and win back users from other Linux distributions. There is some business advantage to consider OpenSUSE instead of Ubuntu or Fedora because of Novell's relationship with Microsoft, such as the tweaks to OpenOffice.org that makes document conversion and migration easier, as well as the hypervisor adapter support. OpenSUSE is probably best for power users, the ones who can take advantage of the virtualization support, the ones with more experience using Linux. For users just looking for a simple desktop to do e-mail, listen to MP3s or watch a couple of movies, OpenSUSE would be overkill.