I have used Suse exclusively on my laptops, I always have at least two, for 3 years now. Each new distribution brings new features and more stability. As I state in the Summary, the best thing I like about SUSE 9.2 Professional are options....

Loading SUSE:
I did an upgrade from 9.1 on a dual Xeon workstation and everything worked perfect, no hitches. However, when I tried an upgrade from 9.1 on a Pentium 4 laptop it would not recognize my hard drive partitions. New installations work as slick as ever, I did a new installation on a Pentium 4 computer and had no problems. I guess in all of the installations I have done I would suggest that hardware is a factor in how smooth your upgrade or new install will go. Installation is simple, the only disturbing thing for first time installers is when the system restarts after the first CD. That is when it load the rest of the system. Having 5 CDs at hand to load is nice because you know there are alot of programs you could play with.

Great Features of SUSE:
One feature that means a lot to me is the new USB Recognition. Now when you insert a flash drive it automatically recognizes the drive and functions on it's own, just like...ah...Windows. I move around a lot and having a flash drive I can shove into any laptop or server and have quick recognition is a real benefit.
KDE 3.3 has a few changes that are welcome. KDE has a whole new interface for Samba setup which is detailed and works great.

Probably the biggest change that is noticeable for KDE 3.3 over KDE 3.2 is the Samba interface. Samba is a program that allows Windows computers to access Linux servers and printers. It is a very useful program for a mixed environment. The new configuration options for Samba will cause a lot of admins to move to the KDE interface instead of loading SWAT for example or using Webmin, both graphical tools for Samba.

Switch User:
On the Menu there is now an option to login to the system on the same computer with another graphical interface. This simple program allows you to use multiple graphical logins for testing or whatever. You can only see one user interface at a time but it is a handy tools for admins fixing accounts or to use the root account quickly. Of course you have been able to do this in a terminal for years but the graphical interface allows you to see what the user sees by entering their account.

The Desktop:
My personal option is that first impressions on the Desktop is one of the most important aspects of how new users feel about Linux. SUSE has the best initial feel of any distributions that I have seen. It looks good, it's easy to get to programs and once you are over the first fear of using YAST that is simple too. SUSE is just as easy to use as running any Windows machine.

YAST
Yast is a great tool for the administrator to configure the system. I would suggest that it is probably the easist tool to configure a system that is available. It is intuitive, powerful and effective. Several new enhancments to YAST make it even better. Bluetooth wireless support is now a possibility with simple configuration through YAST. The Firewall now is much easier to configure with more service options to choose by checking a box. You also have the expert option and can add any service you want manually. Making firewalls easier to understand and use will help all of us.

One item to note on the firewall is that by default during the installation the firewall is activated and all ports are closed for security. Keep this in mind if you have problems connecting to other networks/machines or connecting to network printers.

X.Org:
The move from XFree86 to X.Org is almost tranparent. The normal user will not notice the changes wit the X Window system. If you use command to make changes to yor system here is a list of new commands:
XFree86 - XFree86,xf86config,xf86cfg are now X.Org - Xorg, xorgconfig, xorgcfg.

Basics/Support:
SUSE 9.2 now comes with the 2.6.8 kernel, the GCC 3.3.4 compiler, glibc 2.3.3 and X.org 6.8.1 in addition to KDE 3.3 and GNOME 2.6. Novell has begun to put their stamp on the distribution with small things like the red "N" that you will begin to see and the word "Novell". They are also beginning to put their stamp on the distribution in big ways like a comprehensive knowledge center at the Novell website. I have been a Novell MCNE for years and have used Novell's knowledge base continually in those years to find answers that I needed to keep a Novell network up and running. If Novell carries through and builds a knowledge base like they did for Netware it will be a great day for tech support! Check it out at http://support.novell.com/search/kb_index.jsp Another way the Novell is changing SUSE is the push closer to the edge of what works. One thing that I have noticed since Novell has taken the helm is that there are more cutting edge features in the distribution and consequently a few more bugs when the distribution releases, a tough balancing act. No doubt about it Novell is looking for firsts in order to push the distribution, like the 2.6 kernel and GNOME 2.6 and KDE 3.3. These enhancements are months ahead of other distributions.

Bugs?:
OK...so the distribution is not perfect. A couple things that drove me nuts. First, since I use my desktops to connect to a lot of servers using ssh, I need ssh to work flawlessly. Once the configuration was setup and the firewall was setup like it was supposed to...no ssh. The firewall configuration did not allow any connections. YAST seemingly failed me. I worked it out by using YAST/System Configuration and the /etc/sysconfig Editor. Here I went to Network/Firewall and had to manually allow ssh. This fixed the problem. The other problem I had was that I could not use a network printer. I fixed this by allowing ALL to 127.0.0.1 in /etc/hosts.allow. Why this got changed to take out 127.0.0.1 I don't know, but this fixed the problem. All that said, beware of little problems with the firewall.

Summary:
The best way I would describe SUSE 92. Professional is options. I guess that is why I like SUSE for a desktop is that it provides so much real functionality, programs and quick configuration that it does what I want and provides new options when I am looking for answers. If you are into multimedia you should try SUSE because there are so many multimeda options. Not that you can't add those to other distributions, it is just easier with SUSE. The addition of automatic USB detection is a dream come true.