This version of openSUSE includes a flexible Linux-Windows dual-boot configuration, improved user interface, Microsoft Office file compatibility with the latest OpenOffice.org office productivity suite and enhanced multimedia support.
At openSUSE 10.3’s core, you’ll find the 2.6.22.5 Linux kernel. This supports the newest versions of the GNOME and KDE desktop environments, including a KDE 4 preview, for the desktop interface. Specifically, openSUSE comes with GNOME 2.20 and KDE 3.5.7.
GNOME users, who’ve had to put up with a YaST system management tool that didn’t look or feel like a GNOME application, will be pleased by the new GTK version of YaST. Now all of openSUSE’s GNOME controls will have the same look.
If you have a graphics card with some 3-D power in it, you can also install the Compiz 0.54 3-D desktop. And you can download and install Compiz Fusion, a program that adds extra features from the now deceased Beryl project, and Compiz Extras, a set of additional features, to Compiz.
OpenSUSE 10.3 also now includes MP3 support out of the box for Banshee and Amarok, which are the default media players in openSUSE.
With One Click Install, openSUSE users can choose to install Adobe Flash, Sun Java, MP3 support, the ability to play encrypted DVD, and codex for DivX, Xvid and the WMP (Windows Media Codices).
For desktop users, openSUSE is one of the first distributions to include the latest OpenOffice.org 2.3 office suite. This Novell version includes Novell and Microsoft work toward making it easier for OpenOffice users to share files with Microsoft Office users.
For instant messaging, openSUSE includes Pidgin. This renamed version of the Gaim IM.
OpenSUSE includes the newest version of Novell AppArmor. This program protects your Linux operating system and applications from attacks and malicious applications.
The distribution also includes the latest virtualization programs such as Xen 3.1, KVM and the increasingly popular VirtualBox 1.5.
For server users, openSUSE includes all the usual LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP/Python/Perl) servers and tools you’ll need. Another small, but nice, addition is that you can now use YaST You to configure disk quotas and rules for user accounts from within YaST.
OpenSUSE 10.3 is now available for free download from the openSUSE download site. The distribution is available for 32-bit, PowerPC and most 64-bit CPU-powered computers.