Desktop users will find a lot to like in this release. Users can choose from the leading edge of GNOME and KDE development with GNOME 2.24.1 and KDE 4.1.3. We’ve also included KDE 3.5.10 for users who prefer the classic KDE experience.

What’s new in GNOME 2.24.1?

GNOME has gotten a good set of improvements since the 11.0 release. GNOME 2.24.1 features tabbed browsing and a new compact view in Nautilus, improvements for Gmail users in Evolution, along with mail templates, a new version of Ekiga, and additional improvements in F-Spot.

This release also includes a brand-new release of the ever-popular Banshee. Banshee 1.4 sports support for Internet radio, compilation albums, a Now Playing window for video and audio, support for syncing to Android phones, and many other features that make Banshee an excellent multimedia player for the Linux desktop.

What’s new in KDE 4.1.3?

KDE 4 has a huge number of improvements since openSUSE 11.0. In this release you’ll find the KDE-PIM suite back in KDE 4, new games, the KSCD CD player, KSystemLog to keep track of system changes, improvements to Dolphin, Konqueror, and Marble integration with OpenStreetMap. KDE has now standardized on PackageKit for its backend, which means both desktops are using the same update stack.

The openSUSE KDE team has also backported some key features from KDE 4.2, including compositing features for KWin to provide more desktop effects, and auto-hiding of the panel, and power management thanks to PowerDevil.

Classic KDE

If you’re not quite ready to make the transition to KDE 4, relax. openSUSE 11.1 includes KDE 3.5.10 for the “classic” KDE experience. Simply install openSUSE 11.1 from the DVD media and choose KDE 3.5.10 from the selection of other window managers in the desktop selection screen.

OpenOffice.org

This release includes OpenOffice.org 3.0, which features many improvements over the 2.4 release found in openSUSE 11.0. OpenOffice.org 3.0 Novell edition provides better Excel interoperability, performance enhancements, 3D slide transitions, and other features not found in upstream OpenOffice.org.

This release also includes support for ODF 1.2, import filters for OOXML, Gstreamer and Mono integration, and a lot more. For developers, this is the first release that includes the split build, making it easier to work on components of OpenOffice.org and get involved in its development.

Under the Hood

openSUSE 11.1 also includes several changes "under the hood," including a new kernel release, updated Glibc, new version of PackageKit, Smolt integration, and many other updated applications and utilities:

* Linux 2.6.27.7

* Glibc 2.9

* Python 2.6

* Perl 5.10

* Mono 2.0

YaST Improvements

The YaST team has been busy with this release, working on a number of improvements including new and re-written modules. openSUSE 11.1 includes a new printer module, redesigned partitioner module, and a security module that allows you to check the overall security of your system.