Rating: 
Summary: Surpriseing lack of penguins
Review: Let's face it, this is an astonishingly easy package to install. All those blinkered "One Microsoft Way" naysayers who will tell you that getting Linux running on your PC and doing useful work on it will take ages, can be shut up straight away, by seeing this baby install. However, where are the penguins? We know SuSE have done a lot of work to repackage the GNU/Linux we all know and love into a quickly installable and usable package that provides everything the average PC user needs, to get a working PC going. However, unless I'm very much mistaken this isn't their software they're selling... In fact, it's nobody's software... It was given to us, for free, by the countless hours of diligent work by the Free software Foundantion and other voluntary groups who have given us a secure and workable operating system that just works... all of whom could be acknowledged simply by the odd "Tux", here or there... on either the packaging or during the boot sequence.(as it used to be).SuSE make it easy to obtain access to this software through their own hard work, but the software remains free. Let the "Church of the Reclining Penguin" never be forgotten, or sooner or later we'll see the "Microsoft Approved Version of Linux 1.0" be released. And then we will see the real 'software pirates' steal yet another jewel from our crown. 5 out of five for usability, 4 out of five for purity.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth The Trouble!
Review: Slightly tougher to install than Windows. Definately more stable! Lots of cool stuff on the disks. Plenty of programs available. Short learning curve. Definately for anyone that wants a break away from Microsoft........
Rating:
Summary: Beats RedHat/Mandrake hands down!
Review: SuSE "just works." What else can I say? I run Linux on my laptop for research and I need a tool that works all of the time and can do what I need. RedHat did not install cleanly (and broke gcc etc), Mandrake didn't install at _all._ Plus, IMHO, SuSE's admin tools (YaST) are top-notch. The only "problem" with SuSE is that there are no ISO images available for FTP (although you can install directly by FTP without them), and there are not many RPM's available on the web -- but the professional version _comes_ with almost everything I've ever heard of. SuSE may not be for you, but you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't at least try it!
Rating: 
Summary: No RAID support
Review: SuSE 8.1 does not support RAID. Would not recommend it for servers or anything else with HW RAID or needing RAID support. Try alternate distrobution (RH 8 Personal or Pro will work and can be used on a server w/RAID) It is a great product. But, only if you plan on using it on a PC/Laptop (without SCSI or HW RAID) Recommend anyone wanting to evaluate this product, go to linuxiso.org and download the various free distrobutions and determine which flavor of Linux is best for their tastes.
Rating:
Summary: SuSE is going downhill
Review: SuSE 8.1 Professional is a good product but at the same time, having been a SuSE advocate, I am a little disappointed by a few things that I consider this to be a "downgrade". here are the lists of pros and cons over the SuSE 7.2 and 6.4 distributions I have. Pros:
- nicer and easier to use install program (almost flawless hardware detection)
- more multimedia apps (like DVD players)
- SSH included
- great KDE and GNOME support
- improved software package conflict resolution Cons:
- StarOffice (MS Office clone) not included anymore (that's because Sun does not make the latest version 6.0 free,
but SuSE could have included an older version, like 5.2)
- mysterious disappearance of octave (clone of the math software Matlab) and no inclusion of the popular statistics freeware R (S-plus clone) which I suggested them to include over a year ago
- new installation program lost the ability to load/save configurations (thus it is a pain to setup say, two computers with the same config./software selection)
- still does not include MP3 encoder(s) (due to some software export law because is SuSE is based in Germany)
- APM (power management) is de-supported -- the SuSE kernel (and source code) simply does not have it anymore (you need to grab a new source)! So you can't put your laptop to sleep, let alone find out about the remaining power. Given that I don't regret getting SuSE 8.1, I always thought that the greatest strength of SuSE Linux is that it is so comprehensive (including say 95% of all Linux freeware) that I don't have to be bothered with finding RPMs and source code to compile around the Internet. But SuSE 8.1, despite the eye candy and the ease of installation, forces me to go back to the good-old-day practice of RPM/source digging/compiling. I would hesitate to buy the next distribution of SuSE -- I was using RedHat in 1998 and moved to SuSE because I found SuSE far superior. But I now have doubts about SuSE 8.1 (and its future releases) so I should evaluate other distributions again -- perhaps I should try Debian first.
Rating:
Summary: Best as always from SuSE
Review: SuSE 8.1 Professional is a good product but at the same time, having been a SuSE advocate, I am a little disappointed by a few things that I consider this to be a "downgrade". here are the lists of pros and cons over the SuSE 7.2 and 6.4 distributions I have. Pros:
- nicer and easier to use install program (almost flawless hardware detection)
- more multimedia apps (like DVD players)
- SSH included
- great KDE and GNOME support
- improved software package conflict resolution Cons:
- StarOffice (MS Office clone) not included anymore (that's because Sun does not make the latest version 6.0 free,
but SuSE could have included an older version, like 5.2)
- mysterious disappearance of octave (clone of the math software Matlab) and no inclusion of the popular statistics freeware R (S-plus clone) which I suggested them to include over a year ago
- new installation program lost the ability to load/save configurations (thus it is a pain to setup say, two computers with the same config./software selection)
- still does not include MP3 encoder(s) (due to some software export law because is SuSE is based in Germany)
- APM (power management) is de-supported -- the SuSE kernel (and source code) simply does not have it anymore (you need to grab a new source)! So you can't put your laptop to sleep, let alone find out about the remaining power. Given that I don't regret getting SuSE 8.1, I always thought that the greatest strength of SuSE Linux is that it is so comprehensive (including say 95% of all Linux freeware) that I don't have to be bothered with finding RPMs and source code to compile around the Internet. But SuSE 8.1, despite the eye candy and the ease of installation, forces me to go back to the good-old-day practice of RPM/source digging/compiling. I would hesitate to buy the next distribution of SuSE -- I was using RedHat in 1998 and moved to SuSE because I found SuSE far superior. But I now have doubts about SuSE 8.1 (and its future releases) so I should evaluate other distributions again -- perhaps I should try Debian first.
Rating:
Summary: SuSE is going downhill
Review: SuSE 8.1 Professional is a good product but at the same time, having been a SuSE advocate, I am a little disappointed by a few things that I consider this to be a "downgrade". here are the lists of pros and cons over the SuSE 7.2 and 6.4 distributions I have. Pros:
- nicer and easier to use install program (almost flawless hardware detection)
- more multimedia apps (like DVD players)
- SSH included
- great KDE and GNOME support
- improved software package conflict resolution Cons:
- StarOffice (MS Office clone) not included anymore (that's because Sun does not make the latest version 6.0 free,
but SuSE could have included an older version, like 5.2)
- mysterious disappearance of octave (clone of the math software Matlab) and no inclusion of the popular statistics freeware R (S-plus clone) which I suggested them to include over a year ago
- new installation program lost the ability to load/save configurations (thus it is a pain to setup say, two computers with the same config./software selection)
- still does not include MP3 encoder(s) (due to some software export law because is SuSE is based in Germany)
- APM (power management) is de-supported -- the SuSE kernel (and source code) simply does not have it anymore (you need to grab a new source)! So you can't put your laptop to sleep, let alone find out about the remaining power. Given that I don't regret getting SuSE 8.1, I always thought that the greatest strength of SuSE Linux is that it is so comprehensive (including say 95% of all Linux freeware) that I don't have to be bothered with finding RPMs and source code to compile around the Internet. But SuSE 8.1, despite the eye candy and the ease of installation, forces me to go back to the good-old-day practice of RPM/source digging/compiling. I would hesitate to buy the next distribution of SuSE -- I was using RedHat in 1998 and moved to SuSE because I found SuSE far superior. But I now have doubts about SuSE 8.1 (and its future releases) so I should evaluate other distributions again -- perhaps I should try Debian first.
Rating:
Summary: Best workstation linux
Review: The installer has changed significantly in the 8.x series. It feels wierd to me because it's trying to mimic a more www feel, it worked flawlessly though. The package manager is significantly improved. It enables you to resolve package conflicts (it's like fixing DLL conflicts before they happen, for you Windows users) using a tree view depicting paths to resolve the conflict. It's confusing at first, but I'm getting used to it. The search option for packages works much faster and the interface for that part is greatly simplified. I was shocked to find that the GNOME configuration in this release seemed far more stable than in Red Hat 8.0, since Red Hat are dedicated to GNOME and SuSE is dedicated more to KDE. Unlike other reviewers, I find SuSE's frequent releases to be a blessing. If I buy every release, it's still cheaper than broadband (I hesitate to pay $50/month) and keeps my linux system very current. My only complaint is that the Java Development Kit included is a bit old. It's version 1.3.1 when the current is 1.4.1. Oh well, still deserves 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Great Linux Distro!
Review: There are tons of apps with this distribution (as in hundreds and hundreds). Most of the games are unimpressive, but there are some good classics. Everything runs smoothly right from the install, but like any Linux you do need to play around with it quite a bit to get it just the way you want it -- but that's half the fun! I found it much easier and just plain better in every way compared to my last Linux version (Red Hat 7.2). The update utility works great also. My only complaint (and the only reason I give it 4 stars) is that it is a little slow in the YaST2 module. Everything else rocks. Great distro!
Rating:
Summary: The best OS in the world
Review: This is one of the best OS i never worked with.
One thing that amazed me is the fact that it did recogize all my hardwares. I didn't even need to search for the drivers for my sound card and cable modem.
If you're looking for a fast secure OS. You are in the right place.
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