Suse Linux 9.0 Professional Edition

Anyway, I've never encountered any of the problems except the mouse problem listed below in other reviews. It's not uncommon to SuSE, either. I had the same mouse problem in Mandrake Linux too. Seems Microsoft uses something proprietary in their mice. Getting a Logitech or other non-Microsoft mouse fixes the issue.

My only gripe: SuSE ships with crippled software. Some applications, due to possible unwanted litigation, are crippled to block certain features. I understand that a Linux distro vender doesn't want any legal mess, but Mandrake and Red Hat both provided full working versions of the software they provided. However, there are several places to go on the internet, including a great one by a guy that calls himself Packman, to get newer rpm packages that have complete usability. I burned a bunch of mp3's while writing this review, unlike someone has claimed here.

That said, SuSE is every bit as reliable as Red Hat ever was and twice as reliable as Mandrake. Never had reliability issues that I didn't cause myself by messing around where I shouldn't. Unlike Windows, though, dropping into text mode allows you to fix most, if not all, problems without ever rebooting.

Yes, Linux has a learning curve. Did you forget you had one when you first sat down to a Windows or Mac computer too? It's a completely different OS, so don't expect it to act anything like an OS you're currently using. You must learn the Linux/Unix way of thinking and how and why it behaves like it does.

One thing I like about SuSE is the use of the Kool Desktop Environment, or KDE. It is chock full of eye candy and customization features. Anyone claiming this user interface is dated is just plain lying. No, it isn't the hand holding, brain dumbing, wizards everywhere interface that XP has. That's the point. You have so much free access to customize your experience that Windows and Mac pale in comparison.

With your investment in SuSE Linux 9, you not only get the OS, but every application you'll ever need, unless it's something exotic. Compare that to $299 for XP Professional, then all the software you must buy, and the days of installing it all. You check off what you want in SuSE and in about an hour or so, you have your OS _and_ all of your software and drivers up and running. Now, don't get me wrong...there are hardware issues. That's just Linux. Third party hardware companies haven't seen fit to provide Linux drivers for their stuff. Who's fault is that? It's not Linux's... The open source community has done its best to reverse engineer everything they could, and for most, it's fine. For some, there may be problems.

Once I started using Linux and got the hang of it, I spend more time using SuSE than I do my Windows machine, and it's both newer and faster.


Absolutely wonderful Linux distribution.   May 20, 2004
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I started using Suse 9.0 Pro as soon as it came out. All I can say is I absolutely love it. I use it at home and work for my desktops.

I see other reviews here saying it deleted my hard drive and other various things like it does not support NTFS etc. Well of course it doesn't support NTFS its not Windows and since MS has not released the NTFS specs how does anyone expect someone to decipher a convoluted file system like NTFS without any help? You have many file systems to choose from which are designed so that they don't need to be defragmented.

As for the people saying it deleted my hard drive. Was it Linux that changed your partition table by it's self or did you tell it to do it and didn't realize what you did? If you were going from Linux to Windows would there be a chance of you wiping your Linux partitions?

People that bought Suse Linux and complained that it's not Windows should have downloaded the evaluation version from the Suse website first. Then they would know it wasn't Windows and would not need to buy two operating systems. It's there, it's free, download it first. Where is the Windows demo?

Suse provides a nice Linux distribution with good configuration tools but Linux is not for everyone. (At least not yet.) Linux will do just about anything you want it to but you have to know how to drive it. Windows is easy to drive but won't do nearly as much.


Very difficult to use   November 12, 2003
Sarah J. (Texas)
6 out of 33 found this review helpful

I thought I would try Suse linux on my home computer. To say the least it amazes me how people could give this 5 stars. A long time Windows user, it in no way could compare to Windows. It is impossible to find software for linux, other than what is on the internet. It pays to stick with Windows on the desktop, this is like greek to me.


Who needs Microsoft when there's SuSE Linux !?   November 19, 2003
Joseph (Orlando, FL USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

I get the impression those who wrote negative reviews are just too lazy to learn a new operating system. Some people are just stuck in their ways and prefer an old shoe and that's fine if they're happy with that. There will be an adjustment switching from one operating system to another but SuSE Linux makes that transistion painless. RedHat is also very good but geared more towards the server market and now with them morphing into Fedora who knows. Mandrake is also nice for Linux newbies but SuSE just has that extra special something about it that attracted me. I don't know, maybe it's the gecko ;- ) Seriously, I have literally tried EVERY Linux distribution (distro) available in the past 5+ months and in my humble opinion SuSE is the winner for ease of use and a pleasant desktop experience. That's really what it's all about, the "desktop experience". Linux in general gives you MUCH, MUCH, MUCH more flexibilty in how you want your desktop to look and feel. M$ Windows 'dictates' how THEY want you to experience your desktop unless you have 3rd party software to change that. There are 10's of thousands of FREE programs available for Linux that are just as good if not better than Windows programs. If you've been interested in Linux but didn't know which 'flavor' to use, don't bother looking any further, I did all the research for you. While I found most if not all the Linux distros noteworthy, SuSE Linux is your answer! If you're new to computers and don't like the Microsoft policies, then look to SuSE Linux. If you need a gaming machine then you're a little limited with Linux and might as well get Windows. You can always buy both and create a dual boot system. Load Windows first then load SuSE Linux which will do everything for you. It's a no-brainer install- just get it!


Zero stars if possible   November 21, 2003
6 out of 32 found this review helpful

One would think after hearing all the hype about Linux you should give it a try. Well, I did and what a nightmare, not only did it cause me to lose ALL of my hard drive because it wiped out Windows. It caused be to take my computer into a shop to have this linux mess removed from my computers hard drive.

Lets get one thing straight here, no one has written about hardware compatibility. That is right, because Linux has no hardware support or if it does it must be from a different planet or something. Another sore point, NO software, if you go to your local big retailer, there is NOT one software title available for it.

Lastly, after the costly ordeal, this package went into the trash can where it belongs. Thinking I could save some money, yeah it costed me a lot more in the long run.

For anyone thinking about this, DON'T just buy Windows XP Professional. Windows does something that Linux can't it actually works, if you want to buy new hardware Windows installs the drivers automatically... Maybe the linux groups might think on the basics, also after losing ALL my information plus taking my PC to a repair center to have this Linux mess removed! ARRGG I am not happy!