Rating: Summary: Great for PC's - Not so for server... Review: I am a recent convert to Linux. Having used SuSE 8.1 Pro on a PC and Laptop. I love the look and feel, the ease of installation, and the administration (YaST2) tools. I've installed it on my laptop and PC. And it is great. Like the ability to select what packages are installed. Like all the available utilities, tools and accesories. Gives my old PC new life. Thought I needed a new PC. Turned out, I just needed a new OS. However, I am extremely disappointed that SuSE does not support RAID. Am unable to install it successfully on a small server with RAID. The installation allows me to select and install the AACRAID drivers into the kernel. But, the boot hangs. When I contacted SuSE, they informed me they don't support RAID. Again, great product for the PC/Laptop. If you want Linux on a server using RAID, try another distrobution.
Rating: Summary: Great for PC's - Not so for server... Review: I bought a new Presario 2800T to run Suse 8.0 Pro and its a total dog. I've done several installs and it still can't run my laptop worth a damn. It constantly hangs. It can't even determine if my computer is SMP or single processor. I've had to reinstall Xfree86, take PCMCIA out of the kernel, reconfigure alsa on a regular basis. Hey, Suse did you even test this in a Compaq? I can't believe your making money with this. I'm going to have to dump Suse and try Redhat.
Rating: Summary: Presario 2800T = total bust Review: I bought a new Presario 2800T to run Suse 8.0 Pro and its a total dog. I've done several installs and it still can't run my laptop worth a damn. It constantly hangs. It can't even determine if my computer is SMP or single processor. I've had to reinstall Xfree86, take PCMCIA out of the kernel, reconfigure alsa on a regular basis. Hey, Suse did you even test this in a Compaq? I can't believe your making money with this. I'm going to have to dump Suse and try Redhat.
Rating: Summary: Easy, Powerful Review: I bought this to install on my Compaq laptop and it was one of the easiest installs I've ever done. It booted from the DVD (no disk swapping!) and recognised almost all the devices without help. Those few it didn't recognize were easily configured with a little of my help. Prior to this I installed Red Hat 7.2. It didn't recognize the video card and I ended up with VGA (640X480, 16 colors). With Suse I got 1024X768 and 64K colors. It recognized the video with no help from me. The network took a little bit of configuring on my part but was easily done. Suse comes with all sorts of extra software. It is easy to use yet powerful. It's perfect for both the Linux enthusiast and the neophyte.
Rating: Summary: Simply The Best! Review: I have used 3 separate versions of Linux. My favorite one is SuSE 8.0 distribution. I have to confess I am a recovering Windows user. It took me 15 minutes to overcome my addiction. I am proud to say that I am running a totally windows-free system. I have tried other Linux distributions, but ended up frustrated. That was not the case with SuSE 8.0. The installation was familiar, logical, and very forgiving. The amount of software you get would cost you bzillions in a windows environment. I really like using my computer again. It had become mundane and boring, now it's exciting again, because I learn new things all the time. You won't go wrong, especially if yo don't have the latest and greatest hardware, and your windows system is getting bogged down.
Rating: Summary: Great Distro, but still needs some work Review: I have used both the SuSE 7.2, and 7.3 distro and was impressed enough to purchase the 8.0 Professional. Initially, I had problems with the installation when started from the DVD, complaining that it couldn't read the packages from the disk. I then tried the CD-ROM installation disks and the process went much more smoothly. The only problem I had with the install was that it could not detect my graphics accelerator which I had to configure myself. This is a good distribution and it's easy enough for a new Linux user to install. I gather from the other reviews that the installation problems vary. Just make sure to check that your hardware is compatible or download the needed drivers before installing. SuSE has built a good product but it still needs fine tuning. As far as tech support goes, don't bother. You'll get more info by simply joining a users group.
Rating: Summary: Very functional Linux version Review: I have used dual booting professional Linux / Legacy Windows98 multi-partition computers for some years now and have experience with multiple versions of linux and I must say that this distribution is among the elite, It comes with the expected vast array of useful applications including stock yet fairly powerful word processing including StarOffice 5.2. are Menu selectable both before initial install and afterwards with an intelligent installer program. Additionally it also has a version of the RPM installer (Red Hat Package Manager). KDE is the default GUI and version 3.0 is outstanding. Internet use is outstanding with mozilla or other included browsers. E-mail rocks with several selectable programs. Although SuSE 8.0 is a version for the serious, it is also aimed at the intelligent novice. It will make your windows partitions (yes C and D partions if they exsist) available to you on the desktop (without command line use) while running on the linux side which is very handy for moving your files while migrating away from or just incorporating the other legacy OS files that you have created. It will also make available to you other non used partitions with other distributions of linux if they exist. If you are experienced, this Linux version will fill the bill for serious use, and if you are new to linux this version is among the best selection for the intelligent user of computers in general. Migration into a better world of computing with Linux is possable for all.
Rating: Summary: Impressive Review: I just installed SuSE Linux 8.0 Professional--my first Linux installation. Pluses: (1) This distribution includes a fantastic number of applications (2) The Konqueror browser/file manager is excellent; better than anything in Windows, (3) The KDE desktop environment overall is excellent, though it takes a little getting used to, (4) YaST2 graphical setup tool is also excellent, and pretty easy to use (5) my CD-R and CD-RWs worked fine, completely compatible with disks from Windows (6) multi-tasking (running multiple applications at the same time) is far superior to MS Windows 2000 Professional (XP is no better as far as I know, but I haven't used it). Minuses: (1) I had a little trouble setting up my modem (by the way Winmodems won't work at all-these are not real modems because of some of the work is done by the CPU under Windows) (2) The fonts aren't as pretty as Windows. They are not anti-aliased (gray shading applied to the edges of the fonts to make them look smoother); This is supposedly fixable for TrueType fonts (none of the common TT fonts are included in the installation because they are not free), but I have not been able to yet. You will also need to go out of your way to install TrueType Arial and Times New Roman fonts in your system if you want them. (3) When I reconfigured my video incorrectly, it booted without the graphical interface. I needed to run a utility (SaX2) to fix it. This is mentioned in the FAQs printed on the cardboard CDs holder, so it wasn't to hard to find the solution (4) SuSE Linux is not able to shut down my computer through software, I'm having to hit the button on the computer to turn it off. So there are a few quirks, but even without considering that PCs and virtually all peripherals are built only with Windows in mind, it works extremely well. This distribution is quite inexpensive for what you get--well worth buying (rather than downloading) because of the ease of installation, and you also get 90 days of free support (I haven't used it though so cannot attest to it) in case you have problems installing it. I also like the idea of open-source (free) software, and not promoting propriety operating systems.
Rating: Summary: Good Review: I like SuSE. I used it all through college. The new YaST tool is great but some of the packages don't seem quite right and getting used to the /opt directory took a little while. Beats RedHat any day in my book :).
Rating: Summary: Linux dissapointments Review: I must say I did not try version Suse 8, but based on my experience with former versions (and hundreds of dollars spent), Suse 5.1, 5.3, 6.2, which ALL claimed easy installation, "a lot of software" etc. etc., I would be very suspicious about ANY claim in ANY Linux distribution (I tried Mandrake 7.2 as well as some others). The point is: there is a lot of troubles to even install Linux, not to mention other "software" applications with versions like 0.094, 0.002 etc. There is no easy online software updates like in Windows. GUI is not intuitive enough. Maybe the hardware I used for installations caused troubles for Linux (PC Micron Millenia XKU 128M produced 1997.), whatever it is either I could not have the sound but have high speed internet (always with some tweaking and adjusting, I even had to learn about STREAM drivers and modules to get things going!), or I could have sound but no internet etc. etc. Linux support told me the problem was in hardware?! But machine works perfectly on all versions of Windows including XP. It appeared that NO Linux distro can handle sharing IRQ and resources in general (Windows can!). So if you have a PC few years old but with not many IRQs free (for whatever the reason) and you want to install Linux - then you are in big trouble (I spent months resolving these issues with Linux). Finally, regarding stability, I am now using Windows2000 service pack 1 and I must say this is ULTIMATE in stability and reliability. I tried to crash it in million possible ways, I abused it, but this OS remained as stable as ever! Why would anybody want to buy Linux when there is such a monster OS like Windows2000??? You can have Linux shell installed on it. You can even install Linux emulator on it
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