OpenSuse 11 released

Version 11 of the OpenSuse Linux distribution was made available on Thursday.

The OpenSuse project is sponsored by Novell and AMD, and released its first stable distro in 2005. According to the project's leads, OpenSuse 11.0 includes a "redesigned installer to simplify installation", improved sound management and faster package management.

Also included in OpenSuse 11.0 are OpenOffice 2.4 and the Banshee multimedia player.

Claiming the new release "sets the bar for what a Linux distribution should be", community manager Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier said on Thursday that OpenSuse 11.0 is "a really exciting and ground-breaking release, perfect for Linux enthusiasts and developers, as well as users who are new to Linux".

The community's distros form the basis of Novell's enterprise Linux products, and next year will see the release of Suse Linux Enterprise 11, based on OpenSuse 11.0.

"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 Novell's general manager for open platform solutions, Roger Levy, on Thursday. "We appreciate the dedication and contributions of the OpenSuse community of developers."

Users have several download options if they want to install OpenSuse 11.0: they can get live CDs for either the Gnome or KDE desktop environments, allowing the operating system to be run without altering their PCs, or they can get a full DVD image that includes both versions. Those seeking 90 days of installation support, a manual and a hard-copy DVD of the distribution can buy the OpenSuse 11.0 retail box from Novell.