Release Notes #

It comes bundled with the latest versions of leading applications such as LibreOffice office productivity suite, Mozilla Firefox web browser, and Evolution e-mail and calendar suite. In addition, it integrates with Microsoft SharePoint for group collaboration and supports a wide range of multimedia file formats, wireless and networking standards, and plug-and-play devices.

Through the latest enhancements in power management and security, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop also provides an environmentally friendly IT experience (Green IT) and an error-proof desktop. Finally, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop offers unparalleled flexibility. You can deploy it on a wide range of thick client devices (including desktops, notebooks, netbooks, and workstations), on thin client devices, or as a virtual desktop. By leveraging the power of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, your business can dramatically reduce costs, improve end user security and increase workforce productivity.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 has a 7 year life cycle. The current version (SP3) will be fully maintained and supported until 6 months after the release of SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 SP4.

SUSE does not support skipping Service Packs of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop when upgrading.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 introduces a number of innovative changes. Here are some of the highlights:

This SUSE product includes materials licensed to SUSE under the GNU General Public License (GPL). The GPL requires SUSE to provide the source code that corresponds to the GPL-licensed material. The source code is available for download at http://www.suse.com/download-linux/source-code.html. Also, for up to three years after distribution of the SUSE product, upon request, SUSE will mail a copy of the source code. Requests should be sent by e-mail to mailto:sle_source_request@suse.com or as otherwise instructed at http://www.suse.com/download-linux/source-code.html. SUSE may charge a reasonable fee to recover distribution costs.

To learn how to obtain support, see http://www.suse.com/products/desktop/.

This sections lists related products. In many cases, these products have own release notes documents that are available from https://www.suse.com/releasenotes/.

Additionally, there are the following extensions which are not covered by SUSE support agreements, available at no additional cost and without an extra registration key:

This section includes update-related information for SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP3. For information about general preparations and supported upgrade methods and paths, see the documentation at https://www.suse.com/documentation/sled-12/book_sle_deployment/data/cha_update_sle.html.

In previous versions of SLE 12, when using yast clone_system, AutoYaST would always enable snapshots for Btrfs Volumes, regardless of whether they were enabled on the original system.

Starting with SLE 12 SP3, yast clone_system will now create an AutoYaST XML file that accurately reflects snapshot state of Btrfs volumes.

The button Register Extensions or Modules Again has been removed from the YaST registration module.

This option was redundant: It is still possible to register modules or extensions again with a different SCC account or using a different registration server (SCC or SMT).

Additionally, the option to filter out beta versions is now only visible if the server provides beta versions, otherwise the check box is hidden.

In previous versions of SLE 12, when installing from a USB drive or external disk, the repository linking to the installation media was set to auto-refresh. This means that when the USB drive or the external disk had been removed and you are trying to work with YaST or Zypper, you were asked to insert the external medium again.

In the YaST version shipped with SLE 12 SP3, we have changed the default auto-refresh status for local repositories (USB drives, hard disks or dir://) to off which avoids checking the now usually unnecessary repository.

When setting a key combination for switching between IBus input methods using ibus-setup, this setting will only be applied in IceWM but not in GNOME.

Under GNOME, use the GNOME Settings application to configure IBus:

Under IceWM, you can continue to use ibus-setup.

Qt 5 can now list and print over CUPS network print queues. Unfortunately, this means that remote queues need to be looked up in the network, which takes time. The first time that printers are listed (usually when opening the print dialog for the first time), this adds a delay of up to 4 seconds.

If you do not have any network print servers and you do not want to use this feature, you can avoid the timeout. To do so, set the environment variable QT_DISABLE_PRINTER_DISCOVERY=1 before running your application.

When first logging in to GNOME on SLES 12 SP3 with the Workstation Extension or SLED 12 SP3, gnome-initial-setup will ask Chinese, Japanese, and Korean users for their preferred input method.

Because gnome-initial-setup is set up to run directly after the first login, it is also set up to not run before the GDM interface starts. This behavior is configured in the GDM configuration file /etc/gdm/custom.conf with the line InitialSetupEnable=False. Do not change this setting, otherwise a system without a normal user will not be able to provide the expected GDM log-in window.