"The Evaluation edition of SUSE Linux contains some proprietary components such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, RealNetworks RealPlayer, Sun Java Runtime Environment and Macromedia Flash Player. The Evaluation edition does not time out in any way."

Which version should I download?

If the eval version comes with all the plugins, why should I download the one from open suse?
Do I get reminders telling me to upgrade or something like that?

I want to download the DVD to give it a try

Download the eval version and you'll love it. You be nagged or anything. YOU (Yast online update) will keep the system up to date for you.

Dennisk

so why is this called eval?

from what I understand there was SuSE Professional and Suse
now they are called Suse and Open Suse right?

So SuSE Eval is basically Suse (formerly known as SuSE Professional), without the manuals that come in the box and the 3 month tech support via email with Novel?

If so, then that's great

One thing that I do not like about SuSE and Fedora/RedHat.

When I used/tried those distros, they weren't able to print!

Really, as sad as it sounds. Hope they've resolved those errors

Ubuntu and Mandriva were the only two distros (again, as sad as it sounds) that printed right away.

I use SuSE Professional 9.1 in the Office, it's a really nice distro for people that like YaSt

I sugest you to try Suse 10, this is one of the most polished distros right now.

You're right about Suse Eval, it's named this way with the only purpose of diferentiating it from the Box Edition that Novell sells. You can download it in five CDs or one DVD, if you can download the DVD.

I don't understand when you refer that SuSE of Fedora weren't able to print. If you want to say that these distros don't recognize your printer, that maybe the case, specially if you have a winprinter or and old printer. In my case I have an HP Deskjet 895 and SuSE recognized it when I was installing Suse 10, it was amazing! Ready to print from the very beginning. In any case you can configure your printer in any distro using CUPS. In SuSE you have the chance of using YaST also.

If you're acquainted with SuSE, you'll like SuSE 10.

I had a HP Laserjet (don't remember the model, it was old though)

As sad as it sounds, I wasn't able to print in Fedora or RedHat (tried RH 9, Fedora 1, 3, SuSE Professional 8.2 and 9.1, Mepis) in my HP LaserJet 4L.

Mandriva 9.2 community and Ubuntu 5.04 (hoary) were the only two distros that detected my hardware right.

Yeah I use SuSE in the office (Samba server), Ubuntu on my laptop (house) and in the office (main desktop), and I use RedHat Enterprise 3 on my webserver (www.gamingaccess.com)

My sister uses Ubuntu as well (I still need to install the old crossover 4 in order to have a stable office XP), and I want a distro for my mom, since I want to upgrade her PC a bit and install Yahoo DSL so that we can communicate better.

So you recommend me to download SuSE Eval, which basically means the formerly called SuSE Professional without manuals and tech support?

Could you compare SuSE 10 Eval with Mandriva PowerPack +?
That would be awesome

What non-open source products are in SuSE 10 Eval?
Which distro did you downloaded?

That's very nice, having configured some PCs for your family using Linux, I'm looking forward to do the same, especially one for my parents for browsing the web and for email.

For the desktop, I have two favorite distros SuSE 10 and Ubuntu. In case you want to try SuSE 10 you can download the DVD instead of the 5 CDs, I downloaded the following iso SUSE-10.0-EvalDVD-i386-GM.iso because I have an Intel architecture. Anyway you can find all the instructions and mirrors here http://www.novell.com/products/susel...ions_eval.html. This edition comes with a great collection of open source programs (OpenOffice 2.0, Firefox 1.06, Amarok 1.3, The Gimp 2.2, etc) also you have Adobe Acrobat Reader and Real Player. Beware that you don't have installed propietray graphic card drivers, mp3 and dvd codecs, so you must installed these by using YOU.

As for the comparison with Mandriva Powerpack, I can't help you here because I couldn't try it. What I have installed is Mandriva 2006 Free. The difference between these two editions is basically the same as in SuSE. If you ask me wich distro I prefer, I'd definitely tell you SuSE. I used Mandrake 10.1, LE 2005 and now Mandriva 2006, don't get me wrong, it's as user friendly as SuSE and Ubuntu, but I feel it's not as polished as those ones. If you have some space on your hard disk you can try it and make your own conclusions.

yeah I have two Linux primary partitions in order to use Linux, so I could try one distro, Mandriva and SuSE, and then decide which one will my mom use.

Nobody likes linux at first, my family uses it except my dad which really needs microsoft office and hates learning computer stuff, he just likes productive days working with office, that's all his concern

Today I showed my sister how to connect in Linux via bluetooth, so that she can access the internet from the palm while I'm working, neat hu?

It is possible it was actually a BIOS problem. I noticed in SUSE 10.0 that my parallel printer did not work until I changed the BIOS setting of the parallel port from EPP or ECP (I forgot which it was) to Normal. Voila--perfect printing.

Ah ok, maybe that is the reason
well I'm using Windows right now
SuSe actually FREEZED (had to power down my computer)
I have SuSE 9.2 Pro on this computer, smartlink installed fine, but it didn't run.

I compiled my own drivers, and when doing
# modprobe -v slamr
BOOM, computer totally freezed.

Don't get me wrong, I like the cool Yast and all that stuff (was trying to setup Wi-Fi). I actually got it working, however, if the OS doesn't prints, isn't that a shame?

I will try the bios setting though.

In Ubuntu, almost 100% of the program is located in the repo. You get the sensation that most people use that distro, really. Lots of support.

In SuSE (for instance, now), what should I do?
how am I supposed to install a working Smartlink Modem daemon and modules?

I got it working on Mandriva, Ubuntu, Mepis... basically all the ones I've tried.
This is the only distro in which I've had problems with that

Were can I download software for SuSE?

Suse 10 Eval is different than the Suse 10 OSS because the OSS version is exactly that, Open Source Software only.

Suse 10 Eval is called eval because you dont get tech support or all the software on the 5 CD or 1 DVD eval download (iso). To get the whole thing, just add a install source after install and BAM you have the whole disc set together (minus cost and tech support). Who needs tech support when you got LQ??!

"Alternatively, download the Eval DVD ISO image. It includes an installable evaluation version that can be later upgraded to the complete product"

by "upgraded to the complete product", does that means that you can later order the printed manuals, and receive the 90 post-install support?

Sorry if I ask too much but really if this eval is the (formerly) SuSE Linux Professional, and it's downloadable for free, then for me Novell is doing a big mistake, they should promote it and change it's name to SuSE Linux 10, (not eval or anything) and explain that it's that same as buying a package except for the printed manuals and the tech support