-welcome-
steep learning curve right now…i suggest you move slowly and
delibertly…much of what you know works (from where you came) just
won’t work here…
patience will help move faster (because you won’t screw it up so much
you are forced to start over)
> One thing I’m finding frustrating is Startup speed.
accept it for now my box boots in about 57 seconds…i can live with
that…some folks can’t…
if your is taking longer, live with it for now is my suggestion…for
now…
> this will be partly down to my low amount of
> memory, however I know there will be ways of speeding this up.
how little memory do you have? see: http://en.opensuse.org/Sysreqs
> 1. Remove some programs (not services) from startup. I don’t mean apps
> from my previous session (I’ve figured that one out already), but other
> programs I may want to start manually.
most folks simply hate beagle as it tends to SUCK up a lot of
cycles…some folks say to uninstall it, but i prefer to disable it,
this way:
in the “task bar” is a dopey looking beagle hound with a red
banana…right click on it, then click “Configure Kerry” > Daemon
Status (tab) > click the “Stop” button, then “OK”…
that should keep the hound off you a while…you can come back and
restart it if you see you can live without a desktop searcher (but,
there are alternatives for that)…
i doubt anything else is starting…well, i assume you are using KDE4
and probably 4.1 which means that soon you need to learn how to
updated to 4.3 which is much improved (much less buggy…this is
REALLY new stuff)
oh, and there is the “openSUSE Updater” which is a gadget to
automatically go out and look for updated security patches and
etc…that thing launches when you log in and SUCKS lots of cycles for
a while…it is the little green globe thing in the “task bar” with a
geeko head…right click it, select configure applett, then uncheck
“Automatically start updated on login”…that should hold off the two
biggest suckers that slow down launching what you wanna launch (say
firefox) on start up…
BUT, i do not recommend you leave the updated turned off (though some
here do) unless you will check for updates manually…for sure!
> 2. I don’t actually know how to uninstall software yet. I know how to
> install it using Software Manager, and I know how to configure, build
> and install software from source, but no idea how to get rid.
by “Software Manager” you mean YaST “Software Management”…in YaST
you just find what you wanna uninstall and click it until the icon
changes from a check mark (meaning keep it) to a trash can, then click
accept…
however, i do NOT recommend you start uninstalling stuff, yet…i
mean, what do you wanna dump? hmmmm, let me say it this way: if it
ain’t running it is not needing RAM or cycles…just disk space (which
is CHEAP)…
it is better (imo) to install smart, and not have to delete…ymmv
> 3. Plasma. I’m not 100% sure what this is, but I’ve never really been a
> fan of widgets and extra toolbars, so is there a way I can get rid of
> this, or is it required for the taskbar to appear?
ok, i’m not a bells and whistles guy either…i do not need a rotating
cube, wobbly windows and all that other stuff…i have desktop effects
turned off and it makes my desktop a LOT more stable and responsive…
i guess you installed KDE4, which i personally HATE…i’m on KDE3 and
probably will go next to Gnome or something lighter…ymmv…
if you get to where you have to install again you might consider Gnome
or Xfce, both need less RAM…
> 4. 64-bit Firefox release comes installed, with a Java plug-in. As well
> as this works, if I have a Java applet open, said applet can’t open
> another window in a pop-up, even with Firefox’s pop-up blocker disabled.
> I’m guessing this is more something for Firefox/Java community to help
> me with though…
doesn’t sound like an openSUSE problem…
> So uhh, any ideas anyone? Thanks for any reply…
do lots of reading…
here is something to get you to bedtime 
http://en.opensuse.org/Concepts
http://tinyurl.com/6jwtg9
http://www.novell.com/documentation/opensuse110/opensuse110_startup/data/opensuse110_startup.html
file:///usr/share/doc/manual/opensuse-manual_en/manual/index.html
http://tinyurl.com/r3wrcr/
http://tinyurl.com/8b9s6
–
platinum
Give a hacker a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach reading and you feed him for a lifetime.