Forgive me for being such a newb what can someone tell me whats the easiest way for installing new programs with suse?

Are there any particular files that I need to go for like .tar's, or .rpms etc?

Are there any program managers I can get that I use to install things? (Yast?)
In regards to yast I've tried it but it seems like I can't find anything, how do I get a list of things off a website or something?

For example I'm trying to install nedit and Mplayer (or anything that can play wmv's) and I'm dreading looking for stuff like azureus.

Anyone able to help me out? Thanks for your trouble of reading this.

Yast is quite a beast with rpms.
Suse is a rpm-based distro, and rpms are definately the way to go if you can find them. First, you need to set up installation sources to yast. There are several threads on that, try http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=355358 for example. After that, you can try to install programs directly by searching for them on yast's software management.
Some exotic programs can't be found from the repositories. In that case, try to find them from sites like http://packman.links2linux.org/?action=index or http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat/2/simple/2. And google is your friend here, too.
Tar files require you to compile the programs from source. This isn't as scary as it sounds, there are usually instructions on how to do that in the tarball.
Regarding the wmv files, I'd point to my all-time favorite, here: http://www.thejemreport.com/mambo/content/view/178/42/

If you get errors during install, save them as they often contain useful info on why the installation failed.

The easiest way to install a package is to use an rpm. SuSE comes with a host of different applications in rpm packages.

At the risk of stating the obvious, to install an app (on your installation CD/DVD) from YaST you go to KMENU > Yast > Software Management (or Install/Remove Software). Look for the search box in the upper left page. You can type an application name there and search for it. If you have difficulty understand how to install an application from YaST once you have located the application (in YaST), post your questions, and I'm sure someone on this forum can answer it.

Also, for rpms NOT on your CD, that you have found on another site. Once you have downloaded an rpm, you can click on it and install it with YaST.
YaST is pretty good as a package manager. There are other package managers (APT, Smart etc... ) that argueably offer other and better capabilities than YaST. While I really like YaST, I myself use YaST only 1/2 the time for installing apps, and I use a different package manager the other 1/2 the time.

As for Mplayer, you are best to go to the Packman site (noted in an earlier post on this thread) and get the rpms from there.