Hello all,
I've tried several Linux distros and only SuSE 8.2 seems to give me sound (running on Toshiba Satellite 5005-s504), as well as the functionality of the other distros I tried. Is SuSE 8.2 a good, solid OS for personal use? Nothing really too technical or advanced is fine with me, as I am still just a beginner. I've heard that SuSE is more for servers than for personal computers, and that they have proprietary software. Is this true? I've also heard that SuSE 9.0 is coming out soon. Do you think I should wait for that instead?

The other distros I've tried are mandrake 9.1, red hat 9.0, knoppix 3.2, and 3.3. and SuSE 8.2
Thanks, everybody for your opinions.

Suse is for desktop, corporate and server computers. Suse is more desktop-oriented than Red Hat and many other distros. I found Suse one of the best (if not the best) desktop distros (I have used many distros, major and minor as well). Suse is very popular across Europe, it's also becoming more popular in the US. If you want to read about Suse reviews, go to the Review section of this site. Suse is rock solid, logical, friendly, stable and a pleasure to the eyes. Suse 9.0 is to debut on October 24 in the US. I have read a review about Suse 9.0 at Osnews; it's a lot better than Suse 8.2, with major new software (kde, gnome, xfce, openoffice.org and many), plus more stability, speed and eye candy. My suggestion is to wait for Suse 9.0; it will cost about $57 (personal).

Good luck.

Thanks very much Tuvok. I will keep what you said in mind.