DLChapman, in response to your request:
As Swerdna says, you can have kde, gnome and other window managers all installed on the same system. To make it easier to change/choose which one you use for yor session, set your system to require a login. You can choose the session type on the login screen. Alternately, use a non graphic/terminal boot setting.
Installing different distros for multiboot is also easy.
If you plan to use the system, it’s best to create a separate partition to store your data files. (Whether this is a /home partition or a partition mounted say at /mnt/userdata, makes no difference, but it is a good idea to have a separate /home.)
When you install the first system, choose the custom partition setup and create a 10-15 GB root partition, a swap partition (2gb say) and the /home or data partition. This should be as big as you need for your data files you want to always keep (letters, d/loaded software, pictures, etc).
When you install the next distro, once again use the custom setup and create a new root partition. Tell it to use the same swap partition and mount the data partiton - don’t format this partiton!
One last thing, if you are using the same version of suse (eg 11.1 32 and 64 bit), you will probably be fine having the same username/login on each, if the distros or versions are different, you will get bits of the menu system peculiar to each installed on your menu items. Avoid this by using a different user name.
You can change permissions to allow access to the common files if needed.
Using a separate /home and data partition allows you to do a fresh install, or uprgrade without losing your data.
In the old days, redhat and others gave a partioning guideline for the various sections - ie root, /home, /var and so on. (If you are running a server system, it is probably a good idea to have a separate /var partition as well).
I am sure there is something about this in the how-to’s somewhere. Have a look at tldp.org.
Most distros will find the other root partitions and add them to the boot manager automatically when you install, and don’t worry, you won’t lose any data. Also, if you hash things up, you can reinstall without too much pain.
Welcome to linux and have fun. Linux is not only for fun but is for serious work too, it’s just that if it’s not fun reading and playing around, it’s probably not for you. Each distro gives a bit of the developers’ own value added items and perhaps does some things a bit better than another, but overall, they all use a common base and once you have learned your way around one, others are very similar.
As a new user look at the bottom of the forum list for the newbie help section.
Also do a search for some command line references. Unlike windows, most things in *nix can be run from a command line and in many cases it’s often easier than using a gui.