I quite like the look of the new openSUSE 12.1 (the Gnome 3 desktop anyway) … might just give it a whirl … if only it was Debian based 
Screenshots here:
http://en.opensuse.org/Screenshots
Product highlights:
http://en.opensuse.org/Product_highlights
Download:
You and your “Must be debian based!” >:D.
Try something new 
what possible harm could it have to gain extra knowledge about a different distro that isn’t Debian based? 
I rather like the look of OpenSUSE 12.1 … I may be tempted to load it in a VM… who knows…
Becuase of the lack of the apt tools … I HAVE tried other distros, including openSUSE 11.2 (KDE4.2) and it was terrible, mainly because KDE4.2 was VERY buggy … and YaST2 (for me) blew chunks
But I can’t get away from the fact that APT/dpkg/aptitude/Synaptic (and even to a certain extent the USC) are brilliant, specially compared to YUM/RPM or YaST2
I see… I’ll stay Debian based. ;D
Hey, don’t take MY word for it … other people swear by YaST2 … this is just MY opinion based on experiences I’VE had, and may not be yours at all.
As you said … give it a whirl in a VM and look for yourself, it may turn out to be something YOU prefer.
I’ve heard people are having problems with 12.1 in VM’s unless they get the LiveCD version, then install from that.