openSUSE Project Announces Availability of openSUSE 11.0

The openSUSE® Project, a worldwide project sponsored by Novell®, today announced that openSUSE 11.0 is immediately available for download at openSUSE.org. openSUSE 11.0 is the latest release of the community Linux* distribution, and a major update over the previous release with more than 200 new features specific to openSUSE and hundreds of application updates. openSUSE 11.0 includes everything you need to get started with Linux on the desktop and server. The openSUSE distribution provides the foundation for Novell's award-winning SUSE® Linux Enterprise products.

"openSUSE 11.0 is a really exciting and groundbreaking release, perfect for Linux enthusiasts and developers, as well as users who are new to Linux," said Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier, openSUSE community manager. "The openSUSE Project contributors, inside and outside of Novell, have worked very hard on 11.0, and should be very proud of this release. It sets the bar for what a Linux distribution should be."

Enhancing the User Experience

OpenSUSE 11.0 contains many new features designed to enhance the user experience:

• A redesigned installer to simplify installation.
• A choice of exciting desktop environments, including GNOME* 2.22 and KDE* 4, 3-D desktop effects with Compiz Fusion 0.7.4, and improved sound management in GNOME with PulseAudio.
• Faster package management so users can quickly choose and install programs from the thousands of games, productivity applications, Internet utilities and programming tools included in openSUSE's vast repository of free and open source software.
• Microsoft* Office compatible OpenOffice.org 2.4 and improved VBA import, support for additional Microsoft formats, 3-D charts and improved transitions in OpenOffice.org Impress.
• OpenSUSE 11.0 is also the first Linux distribution to include the 1.0 Banshee release, enabling users to easily manage and enjoy their digital music and video.

"I am really proud to see the release of openSUSE 11.0, particularly when I think of how the openSUSE community has helped to shape this release," said Andreas Jaeger, chairman of the openSUSE Project Board. "openSUSE 11.0 is a true reflection of the community that discussed, tested, developed, translated and promoted it."

A window into the development of Novell's enterprise Linux products, openSUSE serves as the foundation for the SUSE Linux Enterprise line of operating systems. The improvements and enhancements featured in openSUSE 11.0 will help shape the SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 technology to be released by Novell next year.

"The openSUSE Project is an important part of Novell's Linux strategy and is one of the ways we demonstrate our commitment to the open source community," said Roger Levy, senior vice president and general manager for Open Platform Solutions at Novell. "We appreciate the dedication and contributions of the openSUSE community of developers. openSUSE serves as the foundation for our enterprise products and gives Novell an important opportunity to work closely with the community."

Availability

openSUSE 11.0 is available as a full DVD image that includes both GNOME and KDE, which gives users the ability to perform custom software selection at installation, or GNOME and KDE live CDs. The GNOME and KDE live CDs enable users to run openSUSE without modifying their computer from the CD, and to perform an install of the GNOME or KDE desktops, respectively.

Users who wish to have installation support, physical media and a startup guide can choose to purchase the openSUSE 11.0 retail box from Novell. Those who purchase the retail box receive 90 days of installation support, openSUSE 11.0 on DVD, and a printed manual that will help them get started using Linux.

The openSUSE Project brings together community contributors and more than one million users from around the world to promote Linux and make Linux easy to get and use, for anyone.

To learn more about the openSUSE project, please visit www.opensuse.org. To access the social media news release with multimedia elements, visit www.novell.com/susenews.

About openSUSE

openSUSE is a community distribution sponsored by Novell to promote the use of Linux everywhere. openSUSE delivers everything Linux developers and enthusiasts need to get started with Linux. Hosted at www.opensuse.org, the project features easy access to builds and releases. It also offers extensive community development programs for open access to the development process used to create SUSE Linux Enterprise.