This may be due to my installation process.  I did NOT install via DVD, but instead installed over the network, copying the vmlinuz and initrd from the DVD image to my local disk and installing, as described in http://en.opensuse.org/Network_Install.

Apologies for not being very accurate...

After the reboot, there are buttons that can be pressed to bring up sub-dialogs, such as the root password prompt, etc.  Clicking these buttons results in apparently nothing happening, as no dialog is displayed.  If you press Alt+Tab though, the "dialog" can be found and dismissed, BUT the "dialog" takes up the entire visible screen.