12 of 13 customers found the following review helpful:
 Corrections to other reviews, 2004-07-28
JonJon21 wrote: 'Hardware IDE RAID is almost nonexistent in the 2.6.x kernel (if not completely unsupported), so software raid is usually your only option, which is completely unacceptable for most windows power users'.
That is WRONG. Any true 'hardware raid' does not need any drivers at all, as it should operate transparently to the operating system. Half-baked raid requires device drivers.
For a full hardware IDE raid solution that works across all operating systems, including SUSE 9.1 (even Netware, OS/2, Solaris x86) check the ARCO IDE RAID solutions.
SUSE 9.1 is okay, but continues to rely on KDE as the default. The 2.6 kernel will make it more compatible than other 2.4-kernel based distros, but the tradition of continuing with its KDE-centric approach will leave many newcomers to linux wanting something simpler.
The choice of applications is very poor. If you want Mozilla, you have to install it (almost everything you need is included on the CDs, but not part of the default minimum install). For example: Konqueror is the default browser, which sucks.
To make this a wonderful distro, I suggest installing Mozilla 1.7 Suite as both the browser and e-mail client, and also switching from KDE to GNOME as the graphical interface (also included).
While the free OpenOffice 1.1 included is okay, I suggest users invest the extra $49 to purchase the full OpenOffice 7, which includes additional fonts, clipart, and the Adabas database, plus full support from the manufacturer (Sun). If you discover a bug, like for instance certain excel spreadsheet can't be imported, Sun will fix the bug. If you're using OpenOffice, you're on your own.
In short: I give SUSE 9.1 four stars. If they changed the defaults to Mozilla as the browser, GNOME as the UI, and the full StarOffice 7 instead of Openoffice, plus a DVD player (which you'd think should be included for the money you spent on SUSE), this would get 5/5.
7 of 7 customers found the following review helpful:
 Great!!, 2004-07-24
I have ben using linux for about a year now, and I have NEVER seen a distro as stable as SuSE 9.1 Professional. Mandrake 9.2/10.0 are crap, Fedora 2 is crap. Xandros 2.0 Deluxe is stable, but has its bugs. Windows is an insult to technology. Yast2 is GREAT! Even for RPMs that might not work with YaST work with KPackage. Installation is easier than Windows XP even! It works great with games too (you need a gaming emulator for Windows games (wine doesn't work with 3D games(more info at 'winehq.com'))). Being Linux, NVIDIA is a better choice of graphics card because ATI hasn't perfected a linux driver, and you can get the NVIDIA driver with YaST and not have to compile it to the Kernel or boot to safe mode or any of that crap. KDE 3.2 is FANTASTIC also. It looks great, and is very stable. It works with laptops too. My dad has a DELL Latitude 840c (I think) and it works great. Anyone just building/buying a computer, just sick of crappy/old software, or anyone who doesn't want to pay incredibly high prices for Windows etc., Get SuSE 9.1 Professional Edition.
32 of 32 customers found the following review helpful:
The best Linux distrubution.... bar none!, 2004-07-18
I have tried several distrubutions of Linux including Red Hat, Mandrake, Debian, Turbolinux, among others. However, I have to say hands down that Suse is the very best Linux distribution out there in this day and age (July 18, 2004).The reasons... 1.) One of the easiest to install.
2.) Suse has focused on making the transistion easier with a system they call YAST which serves as an installation and administration tool that drastically simplifies the use of the OS.
3.) First Linux distribution to support 64 bit systems. (pro version)
4.) Clean interface thru and thru.
5.) Comes with thousands of programs that can be used free of charge including anything you might needs such as word processing, email, web browsing, etc...
6.) Suse has major corporate backers such as Novell and IBM. It should be around for a very long time in other words.
7.) Has a user base that is growing fast. There are many other reasons I could list, but for the sake of space I will just say, buy it and try it. One last note. Windows users should recognize that if they want to switch over to Linux... they need a transition period to do so. Why? Linux is not Windows. Linux is however an excellent OS. It has many benefits which Windows does not offer. One being its security. It has far fewer security vulnerabilities than Windows does. It has a huge user community that provide free support to one another... there is paid support also if you want that sort of thing. In other words, setup one machine with Suse Linux so you can learn the ins and outs of the OS. Don't expect to use it for your main machine for a couple of months at least. You have probably spent years on Windows and are used to its peculararites. Linux is similar in some ways to Windows and different in some ways. Some features will feel familiar and others will feel new... so set aside some time to learn the differences. The payoff is much less frustration since you are expecting to learn new things and be presented with some challenges. In the end you will end up with a great OS that is in many ways superior to Windows and offers a much less expensive offering of software, support, and security.
3 of 9 customers found the following review helpful:
The First Installation Disk Is Free, 2004-07-02
Then you have have to connect to an FTP and download the rest of the files via the internet. If your connection is slow or the FTP is bogged down it could take forever. Just go to some of the Linux forums online and read some of the horror stories about trying to get this "Free Download" (remember that you get what you pay for). I would suggest purchasing SuSE from a retailer online so that your install goes much smoother and you don't have to rely on an FTP or your internet connection (especially if you're connecting at 56k or less!) The ISOs at Linux.Org provide just the 1rst installation ISO which you have to burn to CD, and use to kick off the SuSE installation which then connects to an FTP online to download the remaining files and 3rd party applications which are found on the other 4 CDs which are about 600MB each. If you're looking to save time, buy a set, if you have the bandwidth and the patience, then download it directly from SuSE.com, burn the ISO file to CD, boot from it and kick off the installation, adn keep your fingers crossed. I wouldn't, however bother downloading the ISO from some cheap looking website like (...).
6 of 24 customers found the following review helpful:
linux is free, 2004-06-28
why would you buy this when you can download it for free? all you are paying for is some of the applications that are licenced. you can download this and other linux distrobutions from linuxISO.org. if you don't have a speedy internet for big downloads (around 600 megs) then go to OSdisk.com and find a good selection of distros to order for a great price.
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