After a pretty impressive 9.1 it's hard to improve, but there is always scope for attention to detail, where I'd say the main improvements are. I've only had 9.2 running for a day, and so far it's the most boring install. It just goes.
There isn't really much progress by KDE, and the desktop and KDE apps are looking familiar. Some issues with the klipper locking up the machine for several seconds seems to be fixed, but kmail has a new mail folder sorting bug. Yast and sax are improved in some details which save a bit of time: after installing packages, yast asks whether to terminate. Sax in a similar manner, allowing further fine tuning without having to restart the program from scratch. Kernel updates now keep the previous kernel installed, allowing easy reverting. It is said that 9.2 puts significant emphasis on mobile computing, though lacking a Klapptop I can't test. System configuration profile management was good before and is now more prominently accessible. The general system areas which can be configured with yast are mostly the same - many client and server things can be configured. The distinction between the two is certainly good. A really cool thing are delta rpms: a kind of diff for rpms. They're absolutely tiny, and you need the original rpm from the distribution media, run a program and hey presto, you have a full new rpm. Kernel is 2.6.8 with the usual amount of backported stuff. There's a good selection of binary-only drivers, which completely takes the hassle out of having to start compiling things for obnoxious hardware suppliers. Intel 536ep and 537ep(?) losemodem drivers are shipped again. KDE 3.3. The disks are shipped in a really cool plastic box with ringbinder-type sleeves. 5 CDs (no source). 1 dual-layer DVD (8.5GB) with both 32bit and 64bit packages for either machines, and 1 single-layer DVD (4GB) with source. The source is identical for 32bit and 64bit. It's announced in NZ for $170, or $122 for the update package (you qualify for the update after having bought a full package once). I've been saying for years that the convenience and saved time of such a distro is worth the expense (though I use more versions than I buy). The personal version is abolished (good thing, that was a bit of a who'd-bother-with-it anyway). The replacement is four much improved live-disks: DVD with KDE+gnome, CD/KDE, CD/gnome, and CD/KDE/64bit. Considering it's running from compressed slow block devices (optical storage), the 64bit thing is more of an ego-thing than of real practical use, but being able to say "look this is a real 64bit complete OS and it runs totally from this shiny silver thing" does have a certain geek factor. People noticed that none of the ISPs pre-stored in yast are in NZ. Unfortunately I submitted the NZ list a few days too late for 9.2, but if you copy http://volker.dnsalias.net/soft/rpm/suse9.2/providers-NZ.conf to /usr/share/providers/NZ.conf that problem is solved. There are a few more packages in that directory too (more over time). Have fun, Volker -- Volker Kuhlmann is possibly list0570 with the domain in header http://volker.dnsalias.net/ Please do not CC list postings to me.
