Is Suse 10.2 worth installing?

[webgenius]

Hello guys,

I've been using Windows Xp from about 5 years. I've heard a lot about Suse. Is it worth installing? Can I still do all the tasks with it which I do in XP?

For what all purpose can I use it? I'm a movie freak and watch a lot of movies. I also spend a lot of time online. Also I want utorrent to run every night between 2 and 8.

I want XP to be the default boot target and SUSE should boot up only between night 2 and 8 for torrent downloads. Is all this possible or am I dreaming?

 

[mehulved]

If you want Suse for utorrent you will have to wait till it's officially merged with BitTorrent's official client or use wine.
All other things can be done.
If you're satisfied with XP, stay with it, with Linux you'll have to learn many new things, if you're prepared to learn then go ahead.

 

[webgenius]

Well, I have used Mandrake and Fedora core 4 for some time. I thought there was nothing for me in it to actually use it. I have been hearing a lot about Suse and Xandros about their EASE-OF-USE and so on. I'll definitely need Linux for my project work. Was wondering whether its use can really match XPs comfort?

 

[mehulved]

Comfort level is something very subjective, I find windows crap to use, even Vista cos I am used to Linux. So, it's the same other way around for windows users.
If you didn't find other distros so useful, I don't think you'll find anything that special in Suse either. But, if you want give it a try. Keep it if you like it. Remove it if you don't, no one will miss you.

 

[subratabera]

I've installed OpenSuSE(KDE) just yesterday and believe me it is a very good OS. Fast and beautiful...It also has a BitTorrent client (KTorrent) which I think will serve your purpose...

 

[Aberforth]

Being a new migrant from Windows XP and Fedora to Suse, I'd say if you have a laptop of non standard hardware, be ready to run around a few hoops to get them working. SUSE 10.2 is still quite buggy compared to Ubuntu and faces quite a few crashes (like Windows XP). If you are new, like good sound and movies - wait for Suse 10.3 which will be out in the summer. If you feel adventurous and curious, go for Suse.

 

[webgenius]

Thanks for all your responses guys. I've finally decided to install Linux on my system.

As I said before, I mainly use it for browsing, watching movies and other day-to-day stuff. So which distro do you guys recommend? I have had bad experiences with fedora core before and wont install it. Right now my choices are:

1) Suse 10.2
2) Mandrake Linux
3) Xandros

Which among these would you recommend? Are there any other distros which are better than the ones I currently mentioned?

 

[phreak0ut]

SuSE 10.2. I'm presently using it and very satisfied

 

[Aberforth]

Thanks for all your responses guys. I've finally decided to install Linux on my system.

As I said before, I mainly use it for browsing, watching movies and other day-to-day stuff. So which distro do you guys recommend? I have had bad experiences with fedora core before and wont install it. Right now my choices are:

1) Suse 10.2
2) Mandrake Linux
3) Xandros

Which among these would you recommend? Are there any other distros which are better than the ones I currently mentioned?

I wouldn't suggest Fedora if you aren't a Linux enthusiast or programmer as it is bleeding edge which means more prone to bugs and problems than stable Linux distros. I have used OpenSUSE and Ubuntu recently and I'd say SUSE is best in terms of features but can be a pain too as it isn't yet optimised for home/portable users. If its your first time, try out with Ubuntu, it would give a good experience, then you can port to SUSE. Ubuntu has one thing which I like most - support, they have the largest community base of not-so-geeky and helpful users who can walk you through a problem unlike other distros where all you get is vague hints and tips.

 

[mediator]

^^Fedora prone to bugs and problems ? I've been using it for more than 3 yrs now and nothing satisfied me more than fedora!

I installed SUSe 10.1,but it faced crashes, so I tried Knoppix then. It was satisfying. I wud say both Ubuntu and Knoppix are good. But I wud term fedora as the best and yea I agree with @TYF!

 

[Aberforth]

I gave up on Fedora after about 15 installs on my old desktop last year. At every install something went wrong and if it went on well...Nautilus crashed at login and it stuck there.... I am not the only one with a painful Fedora experience, maybe you got lucky.

 

[Pathik]

My best experiences hv been wit mandriva,suse n fedora

 

[mediator]

I gave up on Fedora after about 15 installs on my old desktop last year. At every install something went wrong and if it went on well...Nautilus crashed at login and it stuck there.... I am not the only one with a painful Fedora experience, maybe you got lucky.

Thats a possible sign of a corrupt CD installation or a corrupt iso burnt on a cd!

 

[NucleusKore]

Hi
Seeing the deluge of replies above hope I'm not too late.
I started using Open SuSE when 9.3 professional went open source. Before that I tried red hat, mandrake (now mandriva), knoppix, etc. etc. but I always found myself sitting with a fat manual trying to install this and that. SuSE changed the way I looked at linux. Its far more usable.
Now to answer your specific point on torrents, I use Azureus for all my torrent downloading and publishing. Azureus for SuSE is available formt he Oc2pus repository. You can have a look at the additional YaST repositories here
*en.opensuse.org/Additional_YaST_Package_Repositories

Can SuSE boot every night and start Azureus? I don't know. I am on a Ul connection so I never tried. In any case I am downloading all night

Movies? It plays everything, including DVDs. You have to install the codecs and players, kaffeine and mplayer, and the xine engine form the Packman repository.

Now do I recommend Open SuSE 10.2? I do not know as am still using 10.1. I did not fancy formatting my root partiton and reinstalling everything. Anyway it works fine. i did download 10.2 and give it to friends when it was released, both 64 and 32 bit versions, so far no complaints. it is similar in operation to 10.1, however I cannot tell you what extra features are there as i haven't used it first hand. You can download either 10.2, or 10.1 remastered edition.

I installed SUSe 10.1,but it faced crashes, so I tried Knoppix then. It was satisfying. I wud say both Ubuntu and Knoppix are good. But I wud term fedora as the best and yea I agree with @TYF!

SuSE 10.1 was a disaster in the update department. I found a workaround which I published in *forum.suselinuxsupport.de and if I remember, on this forum too. The work around did not work for everyone, I faced both bouquets and brickbats. I have had no problems so far. To avoid the problems of 10.1, use 10.1 remastered or 10.2.

 

[mehulved]

You can update to 10.2 without reinstalling.

 

[caleb]

Thanks for all your responses guys. I've finally decided to install Linux on my system.

As I said before, I mainly use it for browsing, watching movies and other day-to-day stuff. So which distro do you guys recommend? I have had bad experiences with fedora core before and wont install it. Right now my choices are:

1) Suse 10.2
2) Mandrake Linux
3) Xandros

Which among these would you recommend? Are there any other distros which are better than the ones I currently mentioned?

I am new to Linux approx 3 months. Being a hardcore Window fan for many years I found Linux to be very tedious until I tried out Open Suse 10.2

I've tried Mandriva 2007, Ubuntu 6.6, Fedora Core 5 & 6 ... due to my lack of Linux experiance or otherwise I find Open Suse 10.2 to be the best amongst the lot for someone new to Linux world...so you may wish to give it a shot.

You can definately watch DVD movies (provided you spend some time messing with Packman Repositories) Browsing the net is pretty simple just like XP. I currently use XP as my default OS & Open Suse 10.2 as my additional OS. these days I'm spending a LOT of time with Open Suse as there a lot for a newbie to learn in it...plus it does take long for figuring out things in Linux for someone (like me) who is used to Windows...so be prepared to invest a lot time into it but it was worth it coz whenever I figured out something new in the it gave me immense satisfaction in "discovering" something new...so patience is much needed ingredient in Linux.

 

[NucleusKore]

You can update to 10.2 without reinstalling.

In theory yes, but I never recommend it, always gives trouble, clean install always better

 

[darshantandel]

You can do most of the things that you do with XP, BUT NOT ALL

For movies, you will have to download xinelib and xineui after installing suse10.2 after that you can rock and roll.

"I want XP to be the default boot target and SUSE should boot up only between night 2 and 8 for torrent downloads. Is all this possible or am I dreaming?"
Suse has ktorrent.
BY all means try it out.

 

[aditya.shevade]

Suse is great. Use it.

 

[webgenius]

After seeing so many good responses, I'm thinking about installing it.