SuSE Linux Professional 9.2 comes complete with comprehensive installation media, documentation and technical support, and is available for standard 32-bit PC processors as well as AMD Athlon 64 and Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology, Novell says.

It is claimed to be the de facto standard for retail Linux, and to pass another milestone in the evolution of Linux viability for the mass market.

SuSE Linux Professional 9.2 offers a wide spectrum of users the benefits of leading-edge open source technology that is professionally designed, cost-effective and easy-to-use, says Allison Singh, systems engineering manager at Novell SA.

Novell is proud to offer a consumer product that brings together the latest open source functionality, and has again set the highest standard in terms of usability in the Linux home user market. We have incorporated customer requests and recommendations, providing them with a feature-rich and comprehensive open source operating system, and we are convinced that this offering will enable many more home users to switch from an alternative system to SuSE Linux Professional 9.2 with confidence and ease.

In version 9.2, SuSE Linux Professional now aims to offer Bluetooth wireless support, including automatic recognition of Bluetooth-enabled devices via the YaST central configuration and administration tool.

The Bluetooth configuration can be easily set up through YaST, and the software also makes it easy to connect to and move between wireless LANs (WLAN) and other network connections, the company adds.

Its advanced power management through Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) and suspend-to-disk features also make it easy for laptop users who require the increased mobility that this affords.

New features and top applications

With more than 3 500 packages, including office, Internet, e-mail and multimedia software, server services for home networks and development tools, SuSE Linux Professional 9.2 is said to provide Linux users with one of the most powerful and versatile PC operating systems ever.

New features and application highlights are said to include:

* KDE 3.3 and Gnome 2.6 graphical desktop environments for enhanced usability and desktop comfort;

* OpenOffice.org 1.1.3, a complete Word-, Excel- and PowerPoint-compatible office suite;

* Novell Evolution 2.0, the newest community edition of the popular Linux e-mail and personal information client, which is said to have integrated support for Microsoft Exchange 2000/2003 connectivity, compatibility with Novell GroupWise using IMAP, plus support for a broad set of standard e-mail protocols;

* Gimp 2, a comprehensive image processing and graphics creation tool;

* Inkscape, a new vector graphics application;

* Nvu, a Web authoring system that aims to combine Web file management and easy-to-use what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) Web-page editing;

* A selection of commercial software, including full versions of the text processing application TextMaker and spreadsheet application PlanMaker from SoftMaker, full-version backup software Sesam from SEP, as well as a demo version of MainConcept's video editing software MainActor 5.

SuSE Linux Professional 9.2 core technology is said to include the new enhanced Linux kernel 2.6.8, providing stability and security along with greater hardware support.

The X.Org Foundation's new X Window System X11R.6.8.1 is also said to contribute to overall better hardware support.

GCC 3.3.4 and glibc 2.3.3 provide best performance for a Linux distribution to date, the company adds.

SuSE Linux Professional 9.2 also comes with a broad range of development environments including KDevelop, Eclipse and Mono, a development platform based on the .NET framework, which is designed to allow open source developers to build Linux and cross-platform applications with unprecedented productivity.