Hi Linuxites,
would like to share my recent observations between Fedora 21 ( just released ) vs UBuntu 14.10.
Configuration of my machine :: SONY VAIO VPCEB1E03, core i3 ( 1st generation), 8GB ram, 320gb HDD,
Background :: Just one week back installed Ubuntu 14.0 on my laptop by erasing windows 7. Impressed with the look and feel of Ubuntu, within few minutes able to use it. Today installed fedora 21 official release on the same m/c by erasing Ubuntu 14.10. My observations are like the following. Just trying to settle down whether i have to go with UBuntu way or fedora way (?) . Lets see what i have decided!!
Performance / User experience ( UBuntu 14.10 vs Fedora 21-5 official release )
Ubuntu 14.10::
Looks impressive, Terminal window is beautifully coloured, graphics are good, heavy weight icons Seems, everything is OK, graphics drivers are installed no issues. But, I am facing few problems, like fan control always my FAN is running very fast and making noise, RAM is eaten up around 1.8 to 2.2 GB. Started rhythm box music player, after playing sometime closed it. Executed top command, and it is showing still music player is running and utilizing CPU (??), I have to manually shut down the player. Now, coming to application search box , when I type from keyboard my letters are being displayed very slowly, applications display is very very slow at this moment, my FAN makes so much noise. Disabled web searching options in the settings, still i have same issues. Software updates are installed without any issues. GCC 4.9.1 is working fine. kernel 3.16.x
Fedora 21-5 ( Official release ) ::
Instsalled, compared to Ubuntu installation seems this is fast. everything is fine. Now, repeated same actions from GNOME window manager. graphics drivers are installed no issues. surprisingly regarding FAN control, my fan is so silent and it is not making any noise, so so so quiet. RAM is around 780MB is eaten up when I opened firefox, rhythm box music player and few terminals. it was never above 1 GB.. thats impressive(same applications were opened with Ubuntu 14.10 also, it was RAM hungry 1.8 GB to 2.2GB). applications are closed and immediately disappeared from my TOP command menu. The surprising and I like very much is application search box…. Unlike in UBuntu Unity desktop search option, the Fedora 21 search is very fast , display is very fast, text input is very fast, i have tested really half an hour and seems, everything is awesome. FAN is not making any noise very quiet. I havent even disabled web searching. Software upadtes are installed without any issue. Well, one awkward situation with fedora 21 is without using GNOME TWEAK TOOL, i cannot get my minimize and maximize buttons in terminal. Fedora terminal windows are good, but compared to Ubuntu terminals they are less attractivre. GCC 4.9.2 is working fine. Kernel is 3.17.x
Conclusion :
I am a computer engineering graduate and software architect. I thought i will stick to UBuntu because of its impressive looks. But, due its resource hungry nature and slow response times from desktop point of view, I think i will stick to FEDORA 21. btw, I have two more laptops which run REDHAT ENTERPRISE LINUX 7.0 and SUSE ENTERPRISE LINUX 12.0 commercial versions, using core i7 and core i5 respectively . RHEL 7.0 is more impressive from user experience point of view compared to all others.
UBuntu applications and Fedora 21 applications are almost all are same. Same packages, same utilities, i think I can do everything with both the versions from LINUX POINT OF VIEW.
If UBUntu improves its response times with its window manager Unity , then it will become a great desktop compared to other versions. Seems, UBuntu team is concentrating only on good looks without bothering about response times. Their team should concentrate on improving response times.
For the moment next 6 months, i will stick with fedora 21 only, Lets see what UBuntu 15.04 will come up with an answer to Fedora 21.
