SUSE Releases Linux Enterprise 12

SUSE has announced its enterprise-grade Linux Enterprise 12. Among other things, the distribution has improved support for Docker, btrfs has become the default file system, and Oracle’s MySQL has been swapped for MariaDB.

SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 supports x86_64, IBM Power, and IBM System Z architectures, allowing use of IBM’s Power 8 CPUs as well. Instead of the old System V for the init procedure, the more modern systemd has been implemented. SUSE also promises better support for VMware virtualization, while Docker’s containers can also be used as a tech preview. The optional Virtual Machine Driver Pack now supports Windows Server 2012 R2 and Microsoft Windows 8.1.

As a desktop environment, Gnome 3.10 can be installed on SUSE Linux Enterprise 12, where the Linux developer has also improved the installer, among other things, by automatically installing updates during the installation process. Also, features like rollback and snapshot creation should improve server reliability if a system update fails.

SUSE offers up to thirteen years of paid support for Linux Enterprise 12, with ten years of general support and three years of extended support. Depending on the purchase of additional support packages, Linux Enterprise 11 users will have three to five years to upgrade to the new version.