Linux vs. Windows 11 Speed Test (Lab Tested)

Summary

PhoneBuff compares Fedora Linux and Windows 11 on two identically configured Dell XPS 13 laptops. Real applications and workflows are controlled with a robotic mouse and keyboard.

The video examines whether the operating system affects performance on a resource-limited laptop. It does not include synthetic or gaming benchmarks. The results apply specifically to Fedora and the software tested—not necessarily to every Linux distribution or application.

Test results

Test Fedora Linux Windows 11 Result Cold boot — About 1–2 seconds faster on average Windows slightly ahead Reboot 27 sec 61 sec Linux much faster Idle RAM use after reboot 33% of 8 GB 85% of 8 GB Linux left more memory available Browser workflow 19 sec 19 sec Tie Open a 500-page document in OnlyOffice About 9 sec About 9 sec Tie Create a PDF and run OCR About 3 seconds faster — Linux slightly ahead Unzip a 6 GB file 12 sec 57 sec natively; 17 sec with 7-Zip Linux faster; using a different Windows app greatly reduced the gap VS Code project checks, build, and tests 2 min 20 sec 3 min 41 sec Linux notably faster Photo-editing workflow 53 sec About 60 sec Linux faster by 7 seconds DaVinci video-editing and export workflow 2 min 11 sec 2 min 50 sec Linux faster by about 40 seconds Blender render 44 sec 44 sec Tie Cyberpunk launch About 3 seconds slower About 3 seconds faster Windows slightly ahead

The video also reports no meaningful difference in a download test. Windows results varied more between runs in some workflows, particularly video editing; the presenter says the reason is uncertain.

Overall takeaway: Fedora was faster in several demanding workflows, especially rebooting, file extraction, development, and video editing. The systems were similar in some lighter tasks, while Windows had small wins in cold booting and launching Cyberpunk. The presenter concludes that Linux provided a significant performance advantage on this particular laptop.

Main speaker and sources

• Main speaker: PhoneBuff’s narrator, presenting the test and results.
• Performance source: Hands-on tests of two matching Dell XPS 13 laptops running Fedora Linux and Windows 11.
• Sponsor segment: Whatnot; its products and giveaway are separate from the performance comparison.