openSUSE and Ubuntu question

Ok, so I’m still fairly new to Linux, but I have some experience under my belt now with Ubuntu.

What I’m looking for is a distribution that looks nice and works without much trouble from the start. Ubuntu is fine, but I was hoping to find out something about this openSUSE. I’m comparison “shopping” right now.

What can you guys tell me about openSUSE from your experience? It really seems like it could be a great system. Honestly, it seems like it might be a bit more aesthetic from the start.

I just downloaded the ISO, so I’m going to boot to the live CD and check it out.

Thanks,

Troy

The live CD is a great place to start.

The biggest obstacle most users seem to face is setting up harware, I don’t mean just in openSUSE.
Hardware - openSUSE

Ubuntu and Suse differ quite considerably. To put it in laymans terms:Ubuntu is basically the middleman, but it does a good job putting together this debian based distro.
Suse on the other hand: You are dealing direct with the manufacturer here.

Here is a HowTo page you may find useful
HOWTOs - openSUSE

Installation is Best from a DVD
Installation/11.0 DVD Install - openSUSE

Welcome. Checking out a Live CD is a good start. Bear in mind there are different ones for KDE and Gnome.

Unless you identify a hardware issue using the Live CD and no one on the forums can help you sort it out, it’s really up to personal preference. Most people on these forums use openSUSE because they prefer it.

I meant to download KDE, but I clicked on Gnome. Oh well. It looks clean. My internet worked right off the bat. Seems easy enough.

I would like something I could offer my customers in place of Windows. (I help people with their computer problems) I just like the simplicity of installing Linux. No licensing and product key worries. Some people don’t get Windows CDs with their machines anymore, or sometimes they lose them. And the restore partition is useless if the hard drive dies to the point where it’s unreadable.

I do like the default colors better with openSUSE.

As far as DVD installation; could this be made into multiple CDs? My DVD drive is dead for the moment.

Troy

Basically you have a choice of KDE or Gnome CDs or a DVD with both. But, once you have done a CD install, as long as you have an Internet connection and add the necessary repositories, everything else is available.

The DVD is most useful for people without an Internet connection because it offers a wider range of programs though obviously only a fraction of all those available in the repositories.

So, I guess I could just install from the live CD? My guess is this is a smaller version without all the goodies.

Troy

Man, this OS looks nice. It’s clean, the lay out is nice. I just noticed the other software. This is the first time I’ve seen the menu of programs presented this way. It is different, but nice.

I’ve got to get this thing installed.

Nice work! Right from the beginning it’s useful.

Troy