The wait is almost over to download openSUSE Leap 42.1. Next week users worldwide will be able to enjoy the power and stability of openSUSE’s newest release when it is unveiled at SUSECon in Amsterdam on Nov. 4. Until then, here is a preview of the features in Leap.

KDE Plasma 5 (version 5.4.2) is the default desktop environment. Plasma 5 is mature enough for a wide audience and is feature rich. The 5.4 version of the workspace introduces a new audio volume applet, a full-screen dashboard menu, and many new icons.

GNOME 3.16 was purposefully put in openSUSE Leap 42.1 and it offers new visuals that are designed to integrate with the visual style of GNOME applications, for a more seamless experience. The Files application in GNOME 3.16 had a number of significant updates. The grid and list views are improved, which provide bigger thumbnails, easier to read rows, and a more attractive appearance. File deletion is also improved and provides an easy to discover undo feature. A built-in OpenGL support has arrived for GTK+. This allows applications that make heavy use of 3D graphics to be written in conjunction with GTK+, using the new GtkGLArea widget.

As for openSUSE technologies, YaST has enhancements, features and modules. YaST’s revamped Authentication Client Configuration module comes with a brand new user interface, and guides users through three simple steps to enable centralised user authentication on the system, seamlessly integrated with services in the users enterprise environment, such as Microsoft Active Directory, FreeIPA, LDAP, and Kerberos. There been a lot of effort put into stabilization and handling of many complex scenarios. Although there are not very many new features, the network modules included in Leap 42.1 are way more solid than the 13.2 versions.

For those who install openSUSE Leap 42.1, when installing from the Live CD, no firewall will be active by default. Users must enable it with YaST or with: systemctl enable SuSEfirewall2 and systemctl start SuSEfirewall2