| SuSe Linux 8.0 makes Linux easier |
Mar. 15, 2002
Borehamwood, -- (press release excerpt) -- SuSE Linux announced the launch of the eighth generation of its OS. SuSE Linux 8.0 will be available from software retailers in mid-April. Increased security, the newest KDE desktop, KDE 3, incredibly fast installation and expanded multimedia capabilities highlight the latest features of the most advanced Linux distribution for professional and private desktop users.
An almost fully automated installation routine and the comfortable graphical desktop environment KDE 3 make SuSE Linux 8.0 the ideal choice for all Linux newcomers and private users, who want to benefit from the advantages of the Linux operating system on a desktop computer. The installation is concluded by simply entering a user name and password and confirming monitor resolution. Even printer, sound card, and TV card are installed automatically with the click of a mouse.
Improved hardware detection greatly facilitates the installation procedure. The SuSE system assistant YaST2 (Yet another Setup-Tool) detects existing Windows 95/98/ME partitions and enables the easy selection of hard disk space allocation and software selection.
SuSE is the first Linux provider to feature KDE 3. The Internet-oriented KDE desktop system provides professional users with a host of valuable tools. The combined universal browser and powerful file manager, Konqueror, displays a small preview of file contents, which is especially useful for image and graphic archives. Even audio and video files are briefly played when the mouse is moved over the song title.
The KOffice package and the e-mail client Kmail, now more mature, are highly functional. Apart from standard applications such as the text processing application, KWord, and the spreadsheet application, KSpread, KOffice comes with a presentation program, KPresenter and an illustration module. Extensive drag & drop features between the individual programs alleviate the tedium of daily office chores to a great extent. KDE 3 also offers interesting new applications such as vocabulary trainer, kvoctrain; a geometry-drawing program, kgeo; and a planetarium environment, kstars.
The KDE team has revised many utilities, including the organizer, e-mail client, and various media players, and has substantially enhanced their functionality. Important for users of older versions: KDE 3 from SuSE is compatible with KDE 2.x applications. In addition, KDE 3 enables direct access to frequently used data, programs, and utilities. Clear symbols and smart menus guarantee a smooth migration to this newest version.
SuSE Linux 8.0 offers increased security. An enhanced SuSE Personal Firewall 2 can be activated with a simple mouse click during the installation. Even in the event of theft, a crypto file system protects the data of laptops and hard disks. GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) encryption prevents all but the authorized recipients from reading e-mail messages sent through SuSE Linux. SuSE Linux 8.0 integrates professional security concepts and the latest security technologies such as OpenSSH, PAM, and IPsec.
This release is based on Kernel 2.4.18 with more than 1200 drivers and glibc 2.2.5 represents state-of-the-art Linux technology coupled with user comfort and superior performance. XFree86 4.2 provides optimum support of current graphics cards. In addition to numerous improvements in the areas of firewall configuration, ISDN, modem, and mail, YaST2 now comes with a new module for the activation of high-rate data transfer modes for hard disks (direct memory access), thus providing even more ease of use. Of course, the latest versions of central Linux tools are also included, e.g. the web server Apache 1.3.23 and the file and print server for Windows networks, Samba 2.2.3a. Basic system advantages like memory protection, preemptive multitasking, optimized memory management, and excellent network properties make SuSE Linux the best choice for professional deployment and ambitious home users.
SuSE Linux 8.0 pays very close attention to the needs of multimedia enthusiasts; features such as writing CDs, watching and editing videos, mixing sound, editing studio and synthesizer are available as part of the package. Version 8.0 also includes the new and convenient scanning program, Kooka, from the KDE series, which uses the libraries of the SANE system. After almost two years of development, SuSE is the first Linux edition to present version 0.9 of the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA). ALSA supports most common sound cards, including many high-end sound cards and professional cards for sound studios. The possibility to write DVDs in Linux is an entirely new feature of SuSE Linux 8.0. Moreover, the collection of games was expanded and improved considerably. Get energized by the space game "Vegastrike", the 3D car race "Racer", the flight simulator "FlightGear", and the adventure game "Nethack Falconseye".
SuSE Linux 8.0 will be available from software retailers from mid-April 2002.
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