That's a pretty bike, but not one I'd aim for to use as a commuter. The seatpost mounted racks are pretty annoying sometimes -- much better to have a rear rack mounted the standard way. I've never found any problem with a suspension fork for commuting. Other people always tell folks to replace with a rigid fork, but they're not that much of a problem to me.

I like mountain bike for commuting because you can run huge tires and fenders. Usually they have a triple crank with good low gears for pulling a trailer or carrying weight too. Try to find an old rigid steel frame for 80-100 bucks or so with min. rust. That's what I did -- in my case a late 90's Gary Fisher Wahoo. It works great.