The latest release of SuSE's excellent Linux distro, SuSE Linux 9.0, gives the strongest hint yet that the company is gunning for Windows users looking for a change of platform.
With its easy-to-use installer, Yast2 (now more user-friendly than ever), provision of the latest stable releases of KDE and Gnome, support for 32 and 64-bit CPUs and a raft of features including a pain-free NTFS partition resizer and new modules to handle the likes of Apache and Samba, there's enough Linux goodness here to suit almost anyone.
Installation from the five-disc set is a dream; Yast2 should pick up all your hardware without a murmur of discontent. In look and feel there's little difference from the 8.2 release. Some new games have been added and the 1.1 version of OpenOffice.org is included, folding in some basic support for Office XP file and template formats for anyone making the leap over to Open Source from the world of Windows.
Winmodems, a perennial pain for Linux adopters, is now auto-detected with stronger support, which should please many who have systems with built-in modems. DSL connections and ISDN lines are now catered for during setup.
A veritable storm of applications is packed into the box, covering subjects from instant messaging through to DVD authoring. There's even a demo version of the professional quality video-editing suite Main Actor for those with an audio-visual bent.
After running SuSE Linux 9.0 for a couple of weeks it becomes obvious that this is the company's strongest release to date. It has a feeling of real quality and Yast2 is now a truly pleasant tool to work with, giving easy, graphical access to many parts of the underlying operating system that have, in the past, been way too scary for many people to venture into. While the Linux purist may shy away from the GUI in favour of a command-line interface, opening up the internals in a way that's clear and easy to navigate can only make the OS more attractive to a wider audience. --
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