Ubuntu 11.10 Review: Benchmarked Against Windows 7

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Three months have passed since the latest version of Ubuntu launched. With its classic desktop gone, Oneiric Ocelot is all Unity. The training wheels are off; no turning back now. Is Ubuntu ready for touchscreens? And how does it compare to Windows 7?

Benchmark Analysis: Windows Versus Linux

The following table groups the benchmarks into categories, lists the winner of each test, and indicates if the victory was by a significant margin or not.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
BenchmarkWinnerSignificant
Start And Stop Times
BootUbuntu 11.10No
Shut DownWindows 7No
HibernateUbuntu 11.10No
WakeWindows 7No
File Copy Times
HDD to HDDUbuntu 11.10Yes
HDD to USBWindows 7Yes
USB to HDDUbuntu 11.10No
Archiving
ZipWindows 7Yes
Un-ZipWindows 7No
Tar.gzUbuntu 11.10Yes
Un-Tar.gzUbuntu 11.10No
Multimedia
Video Transcoding (HandBrake)Ubuntu 11.10Yes
Audio Encoding (LAME)Windows 7Yes
Image Processing (RawTherapee)Ubuntu 11.10Yes
System
CPU & Memory (Geekbench)Ubuntu 11.10Yes
CPU: Single-Threaded (POV-Ray)Windows 7Yes
CPU: Multi-threaded (Blender)Ubuntu 11.10No
Gaming
AMDUbuntu 11.10Yes
NvidiaWindows 7Yes

Results

By category, Ubuntu leads with three wins (File Copy Times, Multimedia, and System), while Windows has the upper hand in none. On a per-test basis, Ubuntu wins 11 out of 19 tests and Windows wins eight. Of those, Ubuntu holds six significant victories over Windows' five. Any way you want to cut it, Ubuntu 11.10 beats Windows 7 in cross-platform performance testing.

Analysis

The speedier HDD to HDD file copy times are a major victory for Linux. Although the scale of scores in this test are fairly small, file copy operations from one section of the hard drive to another are very common, and Ubuntu displays a proportional advantage over Windows. Moreover, the notable win favoring Ubuntu over Windows in Geekbench was unexpected. The penguin's victory in gaming with an AMD graphics solution was surprising in two ways. First, Nvidia has long offered more frequently-updated Linux drivers. And second, using the AMD card allowed Ubuntu to actually beat Windows in gaming performance, albeit in very old games.

Adam Overa
165 Comments Comment from the forums
  • compton
    The best part of 11.10 is the renewed appreciation it gave me for Windows 7.
    Reply
  • Gamer Dude
    comptonThe best part of 11.10 is the renewed appreciation it gave me for Windows 7.LOL that bad uh well at leased there is an alternative if the Sopa takes awake my ripped Window 8 copy LOL.
    Reply
  • jasonpwns
    That's the problem, I've always considered Windows king for gaming, but after looking at Doom 3, and the performance boost over Windows 7. Are we sure we're developing for the right platform? I mean games on Linux theoretically would run a lot better.
    Reply
  • indian-art
    Happy with the benchmarks. I feel Ubuntu 12.04 will be even better.

    Just around a couple of months for its launch!
    Reply
  • malimbar
    One major irrelevancy in beginning of the article: while Mint overtook Ubuntu in Distrowatch, it's nowhere near the actual userbase: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/02/stats-show-ubuntu-not-losing-ground-to-linux-mint/

    Interesting article otherwise, and very well done. I particularly like how it highlights major areas that ubuntu developers need to work on, but still gives ubuntu as a OS credit where it deserves it. It's more worthwhile IMO to review LTS releases (and one is coming up soon), but in the meantime it's great to see where Ubuntu is right now.
    Reply
  • Lol. I knew I was gonna see old games on the benchmarks, but all of them id Tech 4? Hahahah.
    Reply
  • rmpumper
    jasonpwnsThat's the problem, I've always considered Windows king for gaming, but after looking at Doom 3, and the performance boost over Windows 7. Are we sure we're developing for the right platform? I mean games on Linux theoretically would run a lot better.
    If you did not notice, all of the 3 tested games are OpenGL which is barely supported in Win7. How about we see some DirectX9 10 and 11 games before making silly conclusions? And in any case, who gives a rat's ass about Doom3 - 7 year old awful game?
    Reply
  • Gamer Dude
    jasonpwnsThat's the problem, I've always considered Windows king for gaming, but after looking at Doom 3, and the performance boost over Windows 7. Are we sure we're developing for the right platform? I mean games on Linux theoretically would run a lot better.To bad Microsoft has a Monopoly on DX architecture.
    Reply
  • nekromobo
    Linux is only free if your time has no value.
    Reply
  • 4870, gtx260, doom 3, did i time travel to 2008?
    Reply