openSUSE Tumbleweed
Always the newest software, with a safety net if an update goes wrong.
- Feels like Windows
- Beginner friendly
- Ready for gaming
- Good on an old PC
Our verdict
Tumbleweed is not a beginner's system, and it does not pretend to be. It is a rolling release, meaning there are no versions and no upgrade day. As the project puts it, you install it once and you no longer worry every six months about a large upgrade that could break the machine.
Two things make it safer than rolling systems usually are. Updates go through automated testing before they reach you, and the system takes a snapshot of itself before changes, so if an update causes trouble you can start the computer from the previous state through the boot menu.
Set against that: you get new software the week it appears, including its new bugs, and downloads are frequent and large. openSUSE asks for a 2 GHz dual core processor, 2 GB of memory plus whatever your work needs, and more than 40 GB of free disk space. If you are moving off Windows this month, take Linux Mint and come back to this in a year.
Best for: Curious intermediate users, Very new hardware, People who never want a big upgrade day.
What's good
- Install once and it keeps updating, with no version upgrade to schedule
- Updates are automatically tested before release, which is unusual for a rolling system
- Built in snapshots let you start the computer from yesterday's system if an update misbehaves
- YaST style configuration puts a lot of admin behind a graphical tool
What to know first
- Updates are frequent and can be large, which is painful on a slow connection
- New software means new bugs reach you first
- Smaller community, and fewer guides written with it in mind
- Not the one to start with if this is your first week off Windows
The details
- Memory (RAM) needed
- 2 GB minimum, 4 GB comfortable
- Disk space needed
- 40 GB
- Desktop look
- GNOME (also: KDE Plasma, Xfce)
- Updates
- Constant small updates, always the newest
- Supported for
- Ongoing, no fixed end
- Built on
- Independent
Last checked . Sources: