Most all of that was/is in 8.2 - this doesn't sound like a big leap (which is good, 7->8 was a huge leap). One issue with the desktop in 8.2 was - as you mentioned - a chaotic menu structure that was the default generic KDE menu with spinkles of SuSE menu. If that's better organized, it's a big improvement.

SuSE Update works beautifully even over a phone line. I dial up before retiring and let it cook all night. It all happens automatically.

Also, yes, SuSE has been my favorite distro for some time because the dependencies are thorougly researched and tested - I've never had an issue with libraries or applications that blow each other up.

I wish I had a machine capable of running 9.0 - sounds nice.