How (whether) to Delete Gome 1.4

[Dennis Tuchler <dtuchler earthlink net>]

I expect to be installing ximian gnome for SuSE 7.3.  The question is whether 
I should install it over the current gnome 1.4 that came with S.u.S.E. 7.3 or 
whether I should delete the whole of that gnome before installing ximian.

Every time I have tried to upgrade parts of gnome that came with SuSE, I run 
into conflicts and dependencies problems. I don't know when to force a 
change, so I am left with the unimproved gnome, with its (in some cases 
serious) shortcomings.  I expect I will have the same problem when I try to 
install ximian.

How do I get rid of enough of Gnome before installing ximian to avoid this 
nonsense about failures due to conflicts or dependencies?

Thanks

dj tuchler