hii all, my first post here 
I’m looking for a Linux that will work on my laptop. The last time I used Linux was like 10 years back, and Opensuse was my favorite.
Here’s my configuration:
Laptop: HP ProBook 4530s
Current OS: Windows 8.1 Pro *
CPU:Intel core i3 2310M 2.10GHz
Graphics: Intel HD graphics 3000
RAM: 8GB DDR3
HDD: WD Blue 500GB
BIOS is in “legacy emulation” mode (not UEFI), do I need UEFI for opensuse? I don’t think I can turn on UEFI without reinstalling Windows. If I switch to UEFI, Windows says “Starting automatic repair” and freezes…
I’d prefer an extended support release if there’s one available, I don’t want to reinstall every year.
Thanks :)*
By the way, why can’t I edit my post? It says down at the right corner “You may edit your post”, but i don’t see an option to edit the post, the only options are to report, and reply.
And if I click on “My Profile” on top right of this page, it says I don’t have permission to do so. :\
By the way, if I click on “My profile” in the top right corner of this page, it says:
johnwinchester, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:
- Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else’s post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
- If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.
Why? :\
You do not need UEFI for openSUSE. It should work well in the legacy emulation mode.
Do you have a DVD drive (internal or external) ? If so, I recommend you download the latest openSUSE-13.2 liveDVD and boot to it (without installing) and see how it works. If it works ok, then I recommend you download a separate installation DVD (which is much larger in data size) and install openSUSE-13.2 from that. Prior to installing, you may be best to use Windows-8.1 to prepartiton a free area for openSUSE to install on. And then during the openSUSE-13.2 installation you may need to go to an advanced setting to direct openSUSE to specifically install in the area that you selected (as it is difficult for the software to “read” your intentions without being specifically directed).
Welcome to openSUSE and to our forum. Note as well that our forum is a forum staffed by unpaid volunteers. While this is the ‘official’ openSUSE forum, we are not the openSUSE distribution packagers.
You can read more on openSUSE communication channels here: openSUSE:Communication channels - openSUSE Wiki
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You may wish to read up on Evergreen. openSUSE:Evergreen - openSUSE Wiki where the volunteer openSUSE community have selected specific openSUSE versions to provide longer support.
There is also SLED (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) packaged by SuSE-GmbH in Nurnberg, but note that is a separate distribution from openSUSE (sort of like the relationship between Fedora and Red Hat).
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Because de facto openSUSE is now on an annual release cycle, reinstallations can be every three years. However, as long as you have enough space in your / folder, there is a painless https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:System_upgrade option.
Thanks all
I tried the live version, it works great
I’m now downloading the full version, a 3 years support cycle is enough for me so I’ll get the latest
I’ll update the post to report how the installation of the full version goes, or if I run into problems.
Back when I used Linux, I learned a lot and could compile apps from the source code, but since it’s been a long time, I don’t remember the commands and syntax very well-if i run into problems, please help me 