Novell Ships OpenSUSE Upgrade

OpenSuse 10.2, available for download at no charge, also includes the OpenOffice.org office productivity suite, the Firefox 2.0 Web browser, Beagle desktop search, GAIM instant messaging client, multimedia tools, and graphical software.

Marketed as "the world's most usable Linux distribution," the desktop OS provides users with a familiar graphical environment that includes cascading menus, icons, and dialog boxes. Through its various software packages, OpenSuse offers compatibility with Microsoft Office document files and PDF, RealMedia and Flash files. OpenSuse also employs an automatic Linux-Windows dual-boot configuration.

OpenSuse targets Linux enthusiasts and is not intended for business deployments. The desktop OS, however, provides corporate evaluators with the opportunity to check out business technologies like Xen virualization, the OpenOffice suite, and the Mono open-source development environment, Waltham, Mass.-based, Novell said.

A packaged retail edition of OpenSuse 10.2 is scheduled to be available this week through Novell's Website, as well as in some retail locations. Along with the software on DVD and CDs, the package also includes a user manual and 90 days of installation support for $59.95.