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LinuxDig.Com : Linux News : A Date With Novell Suse Linux 9.1, A Review
Author: HumanX | Friday July 16, 2004
Over the last month I have been covering the progress of Novell. and so for this article, what better way to review Novell then to review what will ultimately be Novell's desktop operating system, Suse Linux.
One of the best ways to give Suse a spin is to download the live CD from Novell or Suse. The download weighs in at about 670 megabytes. Once you burn the CD, you have a live working Linux operating system with KDE, Open Office, Games and more. The Live CD is great for anyone who would like to try Linux without modifying their current computer's configuration. Suse utilizes the CD and your systems memory to operate, your other storage devices are left intact.
I booted Suse on three systems,
Dell Inspiron 7000, PII 400 Mhz, 256 Memory, Ati 3d Lite
Dell Dimension 4500 , 512 MB Memory, Celeron 900 MHZ, Intel i845 (reported from system)
Custom AMD XP 2000, 786 Mem, Ati Radeon 8500
First, Suse ran well on all three systems, better then expected. Except for the occasional reads from the CD, Suse was fast. I ran into a small problem with USB mice which could not be detected on my Custom System. Not until I plugged in a PS/2 mouse did Suse then recognise my USB mice. That was a first for me.
Design
Reminding me of Mac/OSX, Suse's desktop is probably one of the best desktops I have seen yet, The icon set is consistent, well designed and has a 3d feel to it. Also, even during reads from the CD-Rom, I noticed very little degradation in cached program loads or menu displays (probably due to the kernel). The system was impressively smooth.
Configuration
YAST is Suse's answer to easy Linux configuration. And it is easy, almost to easy. Some of the more advanced features users may desire cannot be found. Some configurations you would think you could find in YAST, I had to change in KDE. But of all the configuration utilities available, YAST is the best. On a scale of 1-10, I give it an 8. They lost a point simply because I could not find common features to change for my mouse, like mouse speed and acceleration. Some of the configuration items are in multiple places. Final thoughts on Yast is the Suse needs to work a little on centralization.
Devices
Other then the problem with the USB mouse on the custom system,, Suse recognized everything. My d145 HP printer, both USB wireless mice (3 mice on custom system and all were recognized (ps2 mouse,wireless trackball,optical cordless mouse),
The printer was easy to setup and worked the first time around, no problem. All of the configuration items such as DPI settings, tray settings and so forth were available at print time. Good Job Suse. Actually, I think it was one of the easiest printer setups on Linux yet.
Other
Suse has built in a huge support of protocols, devices and so forth. Camera's, scanners can all be setup within Yast. Within the KDE package, Suse built in the functionality to Konqueror (These are optional components which Suse makes a standard) so that alll of the network services and system devices were available from the Konqueror browser. Except Samba was not part of the Live CD Distro and unavailable to use.. Samba would have been nice.
Final Thoughts
This is the first time I have sat down and actually had the oppurtunity to gi Suse a try, and I am impressed. X and KDE were configured so well in Suse, that I do think it is one of the best raw installations I have used. Suse is fast, clean, consistent and really a joy to work with.
I have not had a chance to get into the guts of the system. But from a visible standpoint and GUI usability, I rate it a 9. I would have given them a 10 except for the USB problem and some of the YAST issues.
What I do like most is the speed, there were few of the lags that are often found in X or X with a heavier desktop better yet. Suse is primetime for users at home or the office with basic needs (I have not tested beyond that point), and this is the first time I have really ever said this about any Linux O/S. I often make the statement, “This linux distro is nearly ready”. Novell Suse Linux is a primetime O/S.
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