Actually, the introduction of Windows started the process. Just could not stand it! I tried Apple, but a user interface consisting of monkey squeaks turned me off. I jumped on OS/2 and was very impressed. Developed a couple of small apps (programs) and thought it was the future. Turned out IBM changed their mind. Considered unix, but was just too expensive. So, I tried linux. The first distro that I could get to work was S.U.S.E. So, that’s the reason. Over the years I have, of course, tried other distros but have yet to find a reason to switch. In fact, this forum and the support available here is a major reason to stay with openSUSE.
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I started with Libranet and before it was discontinued I saw the new release of SUSE 9.1.
I tried it found the Yast and You and lilke it very much so I stayed with it for almost 20 years now.
I tried some distro but it didn’t last a week on my desktop. On top opensuse offer lots of DE’s that you
can choose and most of all xfce which I like the most is always up to date in opensuse. Have a lot of fun 
Back in the day, while browsing software in a shop, I came in contact with a green-boxed version 9, I was impressed by the presence of a substantial manual so I decided to try it. It was a learning experience. Over the years I tested all distros under the sun but try as I may, I couldn’t stay away from that cute chameleon and I kept returning back time and time again. Tumbleweed is the reason I don’t distro-hop anymore.
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I started with Mandrake 8.1 in 2000. CNET called the user experience of Mandrake Linux 8.0 the most polished available at that time. IIRC, I had trouble with printing and video. I switched to SuSE as it was then called, and once I used YaST, I was hooked. I’m rather GUI inclined. I’ve always used the stable versions. I do not see the advantage of Tumbleweed, especially since so many forum entries are “I just updated TW and can’t boot” or “no wifi” or “no sound” and so forth. I’ve always been able to do everything I wanted with the stable versions, and they really are, even with updates.
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True, but Leap had a problem a while back where pc’s who only had intel igpu’s didn’t boot up. Sure, i had a sound issue with Tumbleweed, but i could roll it back and most of the issues are upstream issues .
I actually discovered openSUSE by accident while watching an LTT video (I don’t remember what it was called) and then about a year after I got my first desktop computer which had Windows for a while but then ‘stuff’ happened and I ended up putting Tumbleweed on it, fast forward roughly 6 or 7 months and I liked Tumbleweed so much that I put it on my laptop.
2005, got curious and bought a magazine with a SUSE 10 CD. It was the only distro I tried that correctly recognized the modem card in my PC. Stayed on it because of KDE and Yast.
I actually switched this year. I liked Ubuntu LTS for a long while, but suddenly I realized that I didn’t like the direction Ubuntu was heading. With more and more packages replaced with snaps, it would be increasingly harder to use it long-term.
However, there were no other adequate alternatives. Debian felt way too old, and their wiki advised against using Testing, since it gets less security patches compared to Sid AND Stable.
Linux Mint was filled to the brim with Python applications written by the crew, some of which were running in the background at all times.
Fedora wasn’t really stable, in a sense that its release cycle was the same type of deal as non-LTS Ubuntu, and that didn’t cut it. Recent actions of Redhat didn’t help it either.
Seeing that there wasn’t really any other option, I looked over to Leap. After several months of using it, I can say that it’s been a blast. I’ve tried Tumbleweed in the meantime, but it just isn’t quite my thing. With Leap, I have a solid base without having to worry about constant updates. Kudos to everyone involved, you are doing an excellent job!
SUSE Gekko is CUTE. that’s it, only one reason.
indeed, KDE is great, so many things you can do.
https://paste.opensuse.org/pastes/bfab678bf43e
Even earlier, -It was before SUSE 10.1 (2006). I’m from Novell Netware. Still works fine to me. We will see what the future path will lead us.
Leap15.5
Pi-hole
From Win education ->Win enterprise (including Azure) and still using as a main OS.
Regards