-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
First, if you go with opensuse 11 I think you may fine KDE 4.1 to be
something preferred to 4.0 (I have not used either, but I’ve watched a
lot on these forums w/regard to it lately). This is also an option with
opensuse 11 as I recall.
Second, how to get into Linux? I would recommend (as it worked for me)
just doing it. Don’t drop windows completely as that is difficult in
most cases, but that’s also what virtual machines are for. I run a VM
when needed on my laptop. I never shut it down, never do updates, never
add any software besides what I need it for, and it uses NAT-based
networking, so nothing can reach it directly unless it goes there first.
I use VMware Server specifically (though know others who use Player
with no issues) and it’s been great. Since I never shut down the VM
resuming/suspending is trivial and quick (compared to bootup/shutdown
for sure).
So what else? Read these forums. Post questions as you have done.
Personally I don’t know if I would go to KDE 4.x quite yet, but a lot of
the “impressive” stuff you’ve seen may be available in older versions of
KDE or Gnome. The XGL/Compiz/Beryl animations (3D effects) are
available outside KDE 4.x and most people I know use Gnome for those.
If there are specific things you desire feel free to ask. The opensuse
forums are divided into various pieces and are fairly active so you
should get a response within a day at most unless you really ask
something off the way or describe your issue poorly, but based on this
first post I think you’ll be fine.
Keep in mind there are also LiveCDs/LiveDVDs of opensuse which let you
boot without installing. The system is slower when you do this (optical
media are slow compared to hard drives) but it will let you see what you
can do and maybe do your first install properly. When you do install
opensuse it will repartition your drive for you so you can leave windows
there and dual-boot if/when needed. Despite this convenience be sure
everything in windows you could ever want is backed up properly and you
have defragemented. It’s just a good thing.
Good luck.
Cithel wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I’m new to Linux, but not to computers. For the last 15 years I’ve made
> my living on the windows side of things. Lately I’ve been looking at
> Linux (no specific distro) as an alternative to windows on my home
> systems. I don’t hate windows, MS isn’t the devil, Vista runs just fine
> for me, I’m not posting this to stir up the evangelists on either side.
>
>
> Recently I saw a KDE 4.x video someplace and it looked very impressive.
> In the past I’ve run Linux (both Gnome and KDE) for very short periods
> of time but I felt that the “fit and finish” of the GUI wasn’t all that
> hot. After seeing the potential of KDE 4, that appears to be (or soon
> will be) a thing of the past. I’m posting here because after looking
> around on the net it seems like the consensus is that OpenSUSE has about
> the best implementation of the new KDE.
>
> So help a guy out. Is KDE 4 stable enough to use as my primary desktop?
> Do applications run on it well enough to do the basics of e-mail,
> surfing, playing music (Amarok is awesome), office apps and such? If I
> go with KDE4 what version should I start with?
>
> Am I going about this wrong? Is there a better place to start or a
> better way to learn Linux?
>
> I know part of this is hardware related, so briefly; AMD 3800+, nVidia
> 7900, 3GB RAM, 80 GB WD Raptor drive for the OS.
>
> Any and all constructive advice is welcome. Thanks in advance for your
> help!
>
>
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
iD8DBQFI2ZL73s42bA80+9kRAnVKAJwORml8bJftUqyjAd3NKn0LikcRFQCfVDFp
H9N+4sCBGDz72yk82lujm/M=
=CgDB
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
Either wait for OpenSUSE 11.1 in December (almost an eternity in Internet time) or go with OpenSUSE 11.0 and do all upgrades including the KDE 4.1.1 from Factory. This may read strange to you but it’s really simple. Read 
