In a controversial move (due to patent fears), SLED 11 included , the open-source implementation of .NET. This allowed businesses to run custom .NET applications on Linux without rewriting. Novell also provided Moonlight (a partial Silverlight clone), though it never gained traction.

Each SP was free for subscribers and could be applied live with minimal downtime.

A notable feature was the ability to perform an via AutoYaST (an XML-based configuration), allowing IT departments to deploy hundreds of identical desktops from a PXE server.

The platform evolved significantly through multiple Service Packs (SP):

When SUSE was sold to The Attachmate Group (2011) and later to EQT Partners, the desktop focus waned. SLED 12 (2014) switched to GNOME 3 and systemd, alienating traditional users. By 2020, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop was effectively phased into the “SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation” extension—a secondary product.

: Shipped with then-current versions of essential software, including OpenOffice.org 3, Mozilla Firefox 3 , and the Evolution email suite.