OpenSUSE Linux 12.1 is up for  grabs, but is it worth it?  Where does OpenSUSE stand when compared to other Linux Distros? Does the latest version have what it takes to attract the spotlight?

DOWNLOADING

To begin with, you can download openSUSE 12.1 from the link below,

http://software.opensuse.org/121/en

After downloading you can either choose to burn it to a disc, if you want to boot the system from USB then type this command in a terminal,

ddrescue <iso file> /dev/sdbX

You can find your block device using mount command and then replace X with that value. Example: ddrescue opensuse12.1-gnome-live /dev/sdb1

INSTALLATION

OpenSUSE installation is pretty straight forward. Now, there is a check box in the partition page to make btrfs as the default file system. As usual booting from MBR is disabled by default, you need to enable it from the installation summary.

WHY IS IT COMPLETE?

After installing the OS, you can instantly start working with it. You have tools for every common task. Let me list out all the tools and their usage:

LibreOffice-OpenSUSE comes with the whole Libreoffice suite. No worries about presentations and documents.

Cheese – Webcam tool, supports most of the webcams out there.

Gimp – While most of the Linux distros have chucked this powerful photo editing tool, the openSUSE team have included it in theirs.

Liferea – Simple and elegant feed reader, to read all your favorite blogs and subscriptions.

Liferea News Feed

Yast(Yet Another System Tool) – Yast is the control panel of OpenSUSE,it includes settings to control every aspect of your system from software management to setting up network connections. 

Yast Control Center

Default Tools – Dictionary, Banshee media player, Firefox, Evolution

Software Manager

DIFFICULTIES AND BUGS

OpenSUSE 12.1 includes the latest GNOME 3.2 and KDE 4.7. My Nvidia Card was detected and openSUSE installed noveau drivers by default, if you want to install proprietary drivers then check the respective repositories 

Yast → Software Repositories

But, my HP printer was detected but the drivers needed were not available by default. 

When many apps remained open for a long time, the system did not allow me to switch between windows. This happened only once in Gnome Shell but after logging out and back in, this problem did not persist. 

Empathy asked me to reconnect several times even when I am connected to the internet.

CODECS

To install codecs click the link below. 

For Gnome,

http://opensuse-community.org/codecs-gnome.ymp

For KDE,

http://opensuse-community.org/codecs-kde.ymp

VERDICT

OpenSUSE has come a long way. Improved software management, well sorted out collection of applications, btrfs(soon to become the default filesystem in all major Linux distros), latest versions of the desktop environments(KDE & GNOME). Few Bugs yet to be corrected. If you need an operating system to work with instantly after installation without the need to install extra apps then this distro is for you!