SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 is Novell’s second crack at trying to convince businesses to buck the trend of using Windows desktop machines in favour of a Linux solution. As the name suggests, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) is based on the openSUSE distribution (née SUSE Linux, which was acquired by Novell some time ago).

In this review, I’m going to take a brief look at SLED and what it brings to the table, what it does for Linux and the Linux desktop and how viable it is as a desktop solution within a business environment.

Installation

The installation procedure is very similar to openSUSE’s; it uses the same installer. For the benefit of people who haven’t installed openSUSE, it basically involves inserting the disc, choosing Installation and then being taken directly to a graphical installer.

The installer then asks you the normal questions - licence agreement, where to install and what to install, before getting on with installation itself. One reboot later, you are asked to set up users and passwords etc., before you are allowed to login for the first time.

First Boot

After logging in, you are greeted with a desktop with a few icons on the top left (Home folder - My Documents equivalent, floppy drive, DVD/CD drive, Recycle Bin equivalent and a link to a Quick Start thing).

SLED10 Blank Desktop Hosted on Zooomr

If you’ve used Linux before, you might be wondering exactly what the ‘Computer’ button at the bottom left does. SLED10 uses the Gnome desktop, and usually Gnome gives you three menus at the top of the screen (Applications, Places and System).

Novell have changed the standard layout and made the Computer menu so it is roughly the equivalent of Windows’ Start button. Under the Computer menu is a list of items, which by default is set to show ‘Favourite Applications’, but can be set to show recent items and programs.

SLED10 Computer Menu Hosted on Zooomr

This is clearly made to resemble the look and functionality of Windows XP’s Start button, but I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing in this case. In fact, a lot of the Linux community were very unhappy with Novell’s ‘meddlings’ with the Gnome menu, with some developers criticising Novell for not involving the Gnome team with the modifications they were going to make.

Desktop Search

The Search box on the Computer menu is a very good addition to SLED10 and the integration of desktop search within the operating system is formidable in SLED10 (but more on that later). My only complaint about the Search box in the Computer menu is that it’s not clear how to actually perform your search. There’s no Search button and you have to press Enter (it’s not very clear what you have to do).

In my opinion, ‘live search’ would be put to very good use here. When the user typed text into the search box, the Favourite Applications area could switch to Search Results, and update the results as you type. The More Applications button could then update to say ‘More Results’, which would take you to a search window.

SLED10 Search Results Hosted on Zooomr

The Search results window is well laid-out and displays the results according to the category (document, website etc.) I can’t comment on how relevant the results are, as I haven’t had enough time to load a lot of data on my SLED10 test system, but the Search capabilities use Beagle Search, the standard Linux desktop search tool.

SLED10 File Browser Search Hosted on Zooomr

Search is also integrated into Gnome’s file browser. Clicking on the Search button toggles a text box where you type (but unfortunately still have to guess to press Enter) to perform a search.

The search functionality isn’t quite as slick as that in Windows Vista, namely due to the fact that the searching isn’t done ‘live’, so you have to press Enter to actually run the query, rather than the query updating as you type. Still, the desktop search integration is a very important selling point for SLED10.

Xgl - Desktop Effects

SLED10 also comes pre-loaded with Xgl and Compiz, the tools on Linux which bring 3D effects (such as the cube) to the desktop. Now SLED10 doesn’t automatically enable them for you, and for a long time it’s been quite difficult to set up and use Xgl and Compiz because you have to download and install proprietary video drivers.

SLED10 Desktop Effects control window Hosted on Zooomr

SLED10 includes a tool which automatically downloads, installs and configures the correct drivers to enable the new effects. I really would have liked to test this out, but unfortunately, the machine I was testing SLED10 on doesn’t have the graphical capability to run the effects (and I’m not willing to install it on my main machine just yet).

While I’m not sure Xgl and Compiz are important for corporate users, it’s nice to have the features there and if any home users decide to make a purchase of SLED, desktop effects might be important (especially when Vista has come out).

Business Interoperability

SLED10, is funnily enough, aimed at the enterprise market. If SLED10 is going to survive in a corporate setting, it will have to interoperate with systems already in place. By far, the most common technology used to administer and deploy desktop systems (and manage things like authentication) is Microsoft’s Active Directory technology.

In a recent episode of Novell Open Audio (the Novell user’s podcast), host Ted Haeger discussed SLED’s Active Directory integration and apparently it is possible to login via Active Directory, be managed within Active Directory and more. Unfortunately, again I don’t have the ability to test this functionality myself, but apparently the AD integration is getting better all the time and using SLED10 within a ‘Windows shop’ is, according to Novell, a lot more of a oractical solution than it used to be.

It’s a question of infrastructure and as Linux slowly gains the ability to seamlessly work with existing Windows infrastructure, then will we have the chance to see more businesses adopting desktop Linux.

Conclusion

Overall, SLED 10 is very promising in my eyes. Novell have put a lot of work into toaking the open source components, integrating them together and adding enough spit and polish that SLED10 really feels like one operating system, one product, rather than feeling like a lot of discrete pieces of software shoved together into a system.

I like the new UI enhancements and I think they give SLED a more familiar look and feel to Windows users, without looking like a complete carbon copy of the Windows environment.

The only concern I have is that although Novell are sponsoring some really good work into Windows Active Directory integration, there are bits of AD functionality that haven’t been implemented, and this might hold off businesses from giving desktop Linux a try.

Regrettably, I’m going to have to say it’s unlikely we’ll see even a moderate take-up of SLED10 in the enterprise desktop space. SLED10 isn’t a bad product by any standards, and as a Linux desktop OS it is slick, polished and very, very good. Unfortunately, I can’t see it breaking through the Windows barrier in a big way yet. Novell have done some awesome work on getting the integration with a Windows infrastructure working, and with a bit more work on that, SLED11 could well be killer.

[See the whole SLED10 screenshot pool here]