I've used and I am accustomed to Tumbleweed since a while now. This is my first time using Leap, and I thought I'd share my experience to give some insight to people contemplating trying or using openSUSE Leap 15.6. This review is especially destined to users already on Tumbleweed. I have tested it on 3 different desktop machines (ranging from an 8 years old middle range HP to a high end Acer gaming rig from last year).

Installation:

The installation process is almost identical to Tumbleweed. The installer is still as thorough and reliable, with a complete set of options to fine tune your install while remaining easy enough to use. Coming from Tumbleweed, you will feel right at home.

Under the hood:

The choices made are in my opinion very sane, and an excellent balance between reliability and modernity. The 6.4 kernel will handle most modern machines, and the integration of the new PulseAudio 17.0 and PipeWire 1.0.4 is definitely a plus. If you unselect the software packages during install, you will end up with a minimal and unclutured system with only the most essential and basic apps. The Nvidia drivers 550 were also a nice surprise: I didn't expect such new drivers for a "stable" release. For example Ubuntu 24.04 comes with the 335 version. Thankfully, YaST and its wide array of tools are there as well.

GNOME 45 implementation:

An excellent choice as version 45 is modern enough while proving to be very reliable. All the settings and components are very well implemented and the experience has been flawless for me.

KDE Plasma 5 implementation:

I have tried virtually all distros running KDE, and this is the best implementation I have ever seen. KDE Plasma 5.27.11 is the latest and also the last update there will be, so this is the peak of what version 5 has to offer. It doesn't get as stable as this. All components and settings are ideal, and it has been a lightning fast and reliable experience on my machines. In comparison to Kubuntu 24.04 (also using the same Plasma 5 version), the difference is striking: Leap 15.6 has proven to be faster and without any bugs or issues. The addition Qt6 version 6.6.3 (on top of Qt 5.15.12, KDE Frameworks 5.115.0) makes Leap 15.6 future-proof and makes a lot of sense.

Xfce/other DEs:

From the time I've played around with it, Xfce 4.18 is as stable as ever and similar to Tumbleweed. Same as for Tumbleweed, I love the default settings made (with Xfce there can be striking differences between distros). I did not tried other DEs.

Issues I encountered:

Leap 15.6 has been a flawless experience for me, with the exception of the kernel-included open source NVIDIA "nouveau" drivers. On one of my latest machine (RTX 3060), the screen was locked to a 800x600 resolution with no sound output. On another machine (GTX 1060), there was some visual glitches upon restart. All issues were resolved with the installation of the closed-sourced NVIDIA drivers, so this is only a minor annoyance until the drivers are properly installed.

In conclusion:

I never really paid attention to Leap as I always thought it was "boring". And boring it is, but in the best "reliable and steady" possible way. If you don't care for having the very latest and constantly updated system, and you want a "set and forget" OS, you should definitely give Leap 15.6 a try.

Personal advice:

I recommend making a minimal Leap 15.6 install, and using Flatpaks for everything else (when possible). This will ensure your system has as little dependencies as possible, and that all your apps will continue to be updated to the latest version, avoiding the frustration that often comes with "stable" distros (out of date packages).

Hey there,

There is a way to install xfce on Osuse leap 15.3 server install?

I explain: I installed it using the installer but the result is a system with many and many packages that I don't want. I read that I can install xfce from server install using 'zypper install -t pattern xfce' but it install 3Gib of data.

There is a way to install any DE (in my case xfce) without many and many unneeded software?

Thank you in advance

This is really neat to see a distro shipping XFCE as a Wayland-only option.

I've tried to install xfce from kde and its unusable How can i install it properly (from scratch)

I saw that Leap Live DVDs are available in KDE and Gnome versions, and Tumbleweed in KDE, Gnome and Xfce. How come Xfce is only available as a standard option in Tumbleweed? I know you can do the custom install to get xfce in Leap as well, but still why does Tumbleweed offer it as a separate Live DVD and separate option in the installer?

Can xfce 4.20 be installed in leap 15.6 ?