Rating: 
Summary: Love endless tweaking? Pay your toll here for this hobby.
Review: Before you read any reviews, do yourself a favor. Run an errand around any business plaza anywhere in the world, and see how many computers run what OS. I'll give you a brownie for each Linux workstation you find on a desk of any accountant, secretary, firm executive, desk clerk and such. You'll notice that even professional developers who program to live and live to program work mostly in Windows.Now check the worldwide Linux vs Windows sales. Previously each new "distribution" of Linux was biting a little dent in Windows sales, noticeable dip. Not anymore. Linux fell on its face flat one time too many, too many times the claims of the Linux ye faithful crowd prooved to be more of a fantasy than a matter of fact. If their claims were true, we would see no Windows workstation anywhere or Windows would be selling for just a little bit more than Linux only for its brand equity. That's the background. Well, I invested a few hundred dollars already to research the Linux hype, and may try another distro few years from now. This fall a few Linux distributors are going to unite to create something called "United Linux" I think, I am not holding my breath about it. There is no free lunch, and I am sure if they really make it and if it really becomes as good as Windows it will be cost as much as Windows. Minus the huge brand equity Windows accumulated over last 10 years. As of this distro, still not yet. No. One thing it is really good for is writing/sharing major number crunching programs written in C/C++. Windows and Mac are horrible in that, tools are awfully expensive, unreliable, just a pain. In Linux it's pure pleasure, everything compiles without a snag. So, I prepare data in Windows or Mac, give it to Linux using either Cygnus shell from Windows or Samba on the Unix side, run the crunch, send result back to Windows/Mac. For server, it's good but OpenBSD, FreeBSD are better. As of the Office, see my review of StarOffice 6. It's a joke. Look at your computer count in that office plaza you visited. Get a Windows box or your office and don't torture yourself and your co-workers. Multimedia, oh, good luck. You'll need lots of spare time with the Linux crowd which is mostly very young, extremely opinionated, unreliable and not very trustworthy. Too much hype, too little solid substance, rumors (mis)represented as a matter of fact, intentions (mis)represented for done deals etc. On Linux conventions you better behave like an excited puppy talking about Linux and like a vicious perp-chasing pitbull talking about Windows. Reminds me of something. So, if you like endlessly tweaking things and chilling your nights away on forums with a few cuckoo owls not really expecting any outcome, that's for you. Otherwise, buy a Mac and do your multimedia projects right from the box.
Rating: 
Summary: A lot of stuff for so little outlay.
Review: Being a Linux virgin, I was pleased my installation for this Suse 8.0 distro went smoothly: all hardware detected and installed without a hitch, as is normal for a Win 2000 Pro install. But I always start with the bare minimum of cards in place, to minimise any hassle with network cards and internal modems. Also, all my cards are brands such as D-Link, Matrox, and Creative Labs, which makes driver availability more likely. I was surprised to see the Axion monitor range so well supported. With Suse 8.0 installed, I had a pretty complete system with Star Office, a web browser/e-mailer, Acrobat Reader 4.05, and many other sundries including a CD burning application. Another software load gave me The Gimp for image editing. All in all, you've got a very useable system. The downside: The launching of the computer and Star office is comparatively slow. On the 850Mhz Celeron fitted with 128MB of RAM, that I was using, the Win 2000 Pro and associated applications flew along, unlike Suse, which performed about as well as Win 2000 Pro on a P100. And the software options are limited. So no Photoshop, Acrobat, or Dreamweaver, etc. The Upside: For not a lot of money, and installed on an up-to-date machine, anyone can now have a Linux based PC without the pain, and have enough applications and webability for most circumstances. Although you can't install Adobe Acrobat, you can use the system's GhostScript application to make PDFs that are compatible. You are also supplied with the discs to set up a sever and fit it with firewall features. Suse 8.0 would be a viable proposition for educational and community work where the cost of workstation/server Microsoft licenses is too much to be budgeted for, but where high performance, stability, and simple and cost effective upgrading is required. Whilst the Suse part of the equation is inexpensive I would recommend that sensible dollars be spent on the hardware to minimise disappointments. It's amazing how much grief is encountered for the sake of the (money) not spent, you thought looked to be a good idea at the time.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent distribution from SuSE once again!
Review: For a few weeks I couldn't decide whether to get the latest distribution or not, since have solid 7.3 Pro system running already. Being a bit disappointed by WindowsXP HomeEdition's lack of features beyond pure basics (on my Dell laptop), I was deciding in between SuSE 8.0 Pro and WinXP Pro as a replacement. Picked SuSE as the second OS for this machine (dual-booting) and I really don't regret.Installation was very smooth with updated Yast2 tool, new KDE 3.0 desktop environment, new kernel, new more and more compared to ver. 7.3. All hardware detected correctly except LT WinModem; I had to compile the module from available sources on the Internet and modem works OK now. Manual adjustment of the antialiasing (recompilation of Freetype source needed) puts visuals on par with WindowsXP ClearType. SuSE 8.0 looks incredible on my 1400*1050 SXGA+ LCD display now. Basic system was installed in 30 minutes without a glitch; the extra tuning mentioned above took some more time, but I have beautiful system now.... For those who don't mind to learn new things, SuSE offers incredible value compared to WinXP in general, and particularly to crippled HomeEdition (XP Pro is way better, but more expensive of course while still just pretty much "bare" OS). SuSE 8.0 Pro comes with a few thousands of applications on 7CD's and 1DVD; installation is automated by Yast2 incl. dependency check preventing errors, so you have a lot of software to explore before getting bored :) This huge distribution is real blessing for dial-up users, eliminating effectively the need for hours of download time.... I recommend SuSE 8.0 to everyone; you don't have to abandon Windows entirely; SuSE can serve very good as a second OS if you have need for Microsoft based programs for certain tasks (I myself do), but don't want to pay hundreds of dollars for additional Windows based software....what you get here for [a price] is a total bargain. The only things I'm bit missing from the previous distributions are 1.44" boot & modules floppies (which you can make from CD if you'll need to install on old PC without bootable CD-ROM), case stickers (which you can't make in that quality), and maybe original Yast configuration tool. Also printed documentation seems to be scaled down a little, but still more than sufficient. From my previous experience with SuSE tech.support, to get first response may take a few days, but afterwards the quality of tech. advices is excellent. Further, the available SuSE newsgroups will help with most of problems you may run into.
Rating:
Summary: SuSE Linux 8.0 Professional
Review: Having been a long time user of Linux(5 years), with experience in several other Linux distributions, I would have to say that SuSE is the best overall distribution. It provides a very good balance of both Desktop and Server administration tools. Maintaining your system is a breeze with their YaST tool, and SuSE provides an excellent support database for most problems that occur. An excellent Firewall is included, along with Office (although you may want to consider StarOffice 6.0), Multimedia, CD-Burning, Database, and thousands of applications, and if you have a DVD drive installation is a breeze. The KDE 3.0 desktop manager is simply the best there is. The only problem I had, was with my USB mouse not working upon booting on occasion, which was easly fixed after scanning SuSE's online support database.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic! It actually works!
Review: I grew up with DOS, then Win3.1, after that I tried OS2 (which was wonderful but no one wrote software for it), of course Win95, and ended with Win98. I tried Corel's Linux which was awful and had no support. After being unhappy with Mr. Gates Windows OS, I decided to try Linux one more time. SuSE Linux 8.0 Personal that is packaged with the most wonderful office software Sun's Star Office 5.2 (Yes! I do have and run Lotus Smart Suite, Corel's WordPerfect Suite, MS Office, MS Works, Claris Works, but Star Office beats them all for value and performance). This copy of Linux installed without any problems and all I have to do is learn all the neat little tricks. If you are going from Windows to Linux for the 1st time there is a learning curve, but the time invested to learn something new will payoff in the near future. Infact I am sure that Mr. Gate's hold on the OS market will slip through his fingers and employers will be looking for people who are comfortable with both systems. So buy it, learn it, and have fun!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic! It actually works!
Review: I grew up with DOS, then Win3.1, after that I tried OS2 (which was wonderful but no one wrote software for it), of course Win95, and ended with Win98. I tried Corel's Linux which was awful and had no support. After being unhappy with Mr. Gates Windows OS, I decided to try Linux one more time. SuSE Linux 8.0 Personal that is packaged with the most wonderful office software Sun's Star Office 5.2 (Yes! I do have and run Lotus Smart Suite, Corel's WordPerfect Suite, MS Office, MS Works, Claris Works, but Star Office beats them all for value and performance). This copy of Linux installed without any problems and all I have to do is learn all the neat little tricks. If you are going from Windows to Linux for the 1st time there is a learning curve, but the time invested to learn something new will payoff in the near future. Infact I am sure that Mr. Gate's hold on the OS market will slip through his fingers and employers will be looking for people who are comfortable with both systems. So buy it, learn it, and have fun!
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: Best Linux Ever
Review: I have used nearly all of the distributions of Linux in the past three years, including Red Hat 5.2, SuSE 6.3, Caldera OpenLinux, Turbolinux and MandrakeLinux. This one beats them all, including the newest Red Hat 7.2 and Mandrake 8.1. It is configurable, easy to install, comes with its own firewall and even dials the internet on demand (something the others don't do). I would recommend this product to anyone, newbie or not. Especially those who are tired of the Redmond group controlling your computer and your lives with their restrictive licenses. Enjoy this one, one day soon my computer won't have Windows on it at all.
Rating:
Summary: If you have Window XP, Maybe, you can wait.
Review: I have Window XP on Toshiba Notebook and SuSE 8.0 dosen't install linux on my computer.
I found that if window xp uses NTFS file system, which is default, SuSE 8.0 installation doen't work.
What you could do is buying a partitioning program or doing it by yourself with fdisk, which is not easy if your computer dosen't have a floppy drive like mine.
That was the answer I got when I used their "Free Installation Support" service. ----------- Then, I brought Partioning program. Patitioned the Hard. and tried to install. After installation, during booting, it was stuck. I asked them. They said it is because my computer is using Pentium 4. I have no idea now with this eazy installation.
Rating:
Summary: A quick, clean, stable workstation
Review: I needed to set up a linux box in a hurry. I didn't need to set up a network, just a simple box for home use by my family. The hardware recognition was amazing. Honestly, I don't see how anybody could seriously screw up installing this if they stuck with the default (KDE plus Staroffice). Linux for the home desktop has arrived.
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