Novell SuSE Linux 9.2 Professional

While Windows looks set to rule the PC desktop for the foreseeable future, Linux continues to gain ground as a viable alternative - especially for those who aren't tied to Microsoft's applications. Now easier to use with improved hardware compatibility, Novell's SuSE Linux 9.2 is its most complete version yet.

Featuring support for 32bit and 64bit processors, SuSE 9.2 Professional can be installed from either five CDs or a single DVD - you also get a DVD containing all the source files of the supplied applications. Installation is straightforward and the software identified all the main components in our Dell notebook.

However, we did encounter problems with wireless networking, and the modem refused to work despite being correctly identified. Standard Ethernet support seems much more reliable, and connecting to our office Windows network gave instant access to the internet and other computers.

SuSE 9.2 will happily co-exist with Windows and the installer offers the option to create a dual-boot system. However, while the OS can read hard drives formatted with NTFS on the same PC, it won't have permission to write to them. If you want to share files between Windows and SuSE on the same drive you'll need to create a Fat32 partition that both can read and write to.

This version comes with both the KDE 3.3 and Gnome 2.6 graphical interfaces, allowing users to choose the look and feel that suits them. However, some Linux software is tied to a specific front end. Similarly, there are several internet browsers installed, including Mozilla Firefox and the KDE browser, Konquerer, which supports mouse gestures in the same way as Opera.

The amount of software bundled with SuSE 9.2 is impressive and covers most areas. The star of the show is undoubtedly Openoffice 1.1.3, providing a complete Microsoft Office-style suite for free, but you also get a number of multimedia utilities for editing music and video and burning CDs, including Realplayer.

There's also the highly regarded Gimp 2 for image editing, which is considerably more useful than Windows Paint, plus Apache, FTP, DNS, DHCP, Samba, NFS, SLP and NIS servers.

Just about everything in SuSE can be configured via the Control Center, which includes the Yast (Yet another setup tool) modules, and controls and options are clearly laid out. There's also a backup utility that can split files across floppies or CDs. DVD support would be preferable for reducing time and media, but this is still better than Windows manages out of the box.

Updates, including security and kernel patches, are available over the internet and should be checked regularly to keep your system up to speed. Changes to the kernel are handled automatically and shouldn't require anything more than a reboot. The days of having to recompile the kernel manually are now, thankfully, over.

Other new features in 9.2 include support for Bluetooth, Irda and Wi-Fi, although hardware support is still not quite up to Windows standards, while owners of Palm or Psion PDAs can now sync their devices with Outlook equivalents in Gnome or KDE, including Novell Evolution, and install software on them. There's no support for Pocket PC, but given the Microsoft connection it's not that surprising.

Being a commercial version of Linux, SuSE 9.2 Professional comes complete with printed documentation. Not only are the manuals helpful for finding out how to use SuSE, they're great for working out exactly what's included with version 9.2. With so much software bundled, it's quite easy to miss entire packages inadvertently.

Finally, if you fancy trying out SuSE Linux 9.2 without splashing out, you can download a free evaluation here. Now you can't do that with Windows.

Contact:
Novell 01428 751 481
www.novell.com/uk

System requirements:

• Intel Pentium or AMD Athlon, Athlon XP, Athlon MP, Athlon64-based computer
• 128MB Ram
• 500MB hard disk space (2.5GB recommended for standard install)

See also:

Group Test - Linux

Personal Computer World tests 8 linux distributions to help you find the one that best suits your needs.  24 Mar 2004

Red Hat Linux 9

The latest version of this well known Linux distribution.  23 Mar 2004

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