Better 2D and 3D acceleration, meanwhile, result from the inclusion of improved graphics drivers, the openSUSE project says.

With the ability to download simultaneously from multiple servers and to fetch only the parts of files that have changed, openSUSE now also offers much faster repository refreshments along with package installations and updates. A newly bolstered boot process, meanwhile, supports VirtualBox and the SELinux security framework.

2. Integrated Software Choices

OpenSUSE features the KDE Plasma Desktop 4.6 along with 2.32, Xfce 4.8 and LXDE 0.5 as alternatives. Also included is GNOME Shell, which will be part of the forthcoming GNOME 3.

OpenOffice.org has been replaced with 3.3.1--making OpenSUSE the first major distribution to ship the Document Foundation's new contender, the project says--and both and Scribus 1.4 are included as well.